Violet Coloured Courage
by S.Z.Raff
Summary: How does a young Hufflepuff First Year become a talented Auror fighting for her family and friends against Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters? This is the story of Nymphadora Tonks in all her fierce and pink-haired glory.
1. The Journey Begins

_**Author's Note: Tonks is obviously J.K. Rowling's character, as is this entire world that I'm writing about. Similarities in some parts with the Harry Potter books (as I've had a review on the subject) are usually coincidence as I'm not using the books as a direct reference for this story because Tonks only features in the later books, and even then only briefly. I've read the books so much and can only put it down to how often I've read it that some parts have sunk into my brain. I'll try and avoid it though.**_

_**Essentially - If you recognise it, it's not mine.**_

_**LittleGuitar94**_

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><p><strong><em>1st September, 1984<em>**

'Come _on_ Mum!' called eleven year old Nymphadora Tonks as she urged her mother towards the brick wall between platforms nine and ten of Kings Cross station that separated the Muggle world from the Wizarding world.

'I'm coming Dora, don't worry,' replied Andromeda Tonks as she walked gracefully down the length of the platform. Tonks hadn't yet mastered the art of walking without tripping. 'You go ahead with your father; I'll be right behind you.'

Nymphadora bounced off to her father, Ted, who was waiting with her trunk laden trolley. 'Ready Dora?' he asked once she had skipped to a halt beside him.

The manic grin on her face and the vivid pink hair was all the confirmation he needed.

'Hold on to the trolley then, and let's go!' Together they ran towards the magical barrier and emerged a moment later onto the busy Platform 9 ¾. The gleaming scarlet Hogwarts Express waited patiently beside the gossiping, shouting, mingling crowd.

Andromeda followed them through the barrier and helped direct the trolley towards an empty carriage on the train.

'Oh look, darling,' she said to her husband, 'there's Octavian and Penelope! Their son is starting this year too, remember! Let's go and have a chat!'

Dora shared a look with her Dad and they both followed behind Andromeda as she cut a path through the thick bustle of people.

'The Pye's were at Hogwarts with your mother and I,' Ted explained, 'they're nice enough, both Hufflepuffs. Octo was in my year.'

As they were early, they had plenty of time to chat. Dromeda had insisted they leave early as they would probably have to stop and go back to the house for something, but it turned out that they didn't. Dora kicked her old trainers against the stone platform as her parents talked. She smiled politely when she was introduced but when the Pyes said that their son was talking to one of his other friends she lost interest.

Nymphadora Tonks was an only child and a metamorphmagus. Her hair colour and style changed as often as her train of thought. Despite her original hair colour being a dark brown, almost black, she usually wore it in a bright colour. At that moment, she was going through a pink phase that occasionally switched to blue. Her natural hair colour reminded her of her mother's family, at least two of whom were in Azkaban prison for murder or torture, so she tried her very best to get away from that.

Unfortunately, Dora had not inherited her mother's grace in addition to her natural facial features, as she spent a lot of time in the treatment rooms of St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries after tripping or falling over her own feet or anything that got in her way.

Dora's eyes drifted as she tried to make her hair turn the same scarlet as the train. A lost looking boy and his parents wandered into her line of vision and she noticed that he was wearing a muggle band t-shirt. She tapped her Dad's arm and told him she'd be back before heading off to speak to the boy.

'Hey,' she said, 'do you need any help? You look a bit lost.'

The boy looked at her apprehensively; it was probably the red hair thing she realised. The boy's parents jumped in.

'Yes, please, we're new to all this and don't really know what we're meant to do.' _Definitely Muggles_, she thought.

'No problem, you can put your stuff in the same compartment as me. This way,' she led the boy and his parents onto the train and helped them take the trunk to the compartment.

'Thanks,' the boy sighed, flicking his shaggy blond hair off his face after they'd hauled his trunk up onto the overhead shelf, 'my name's Don. Donaghan Tremlett, but I prefer Don. Donaghan is a silly name.' He rolled his eyes at his parents who were admiring the interior of the train.

'Well since we're both members of the silly name club I guess I'll tell you mine. Nymphadora Tonks, but I prefer Tonks,' the kid held out his hand and she shook it. 'So you're a first year too?'

'Yeah, I didn't even know magic existed until this really old guy came to my house and gave me a letter,' Don grinned bashfully, 'I keep thinking it's a dream. You?'

'My parents are both magical but I've been waiting for this day for ages!'

'Really? But you're wearing a Sex Pistols top – don't tell me they're magic?' Don looked confused.

'Nah, they're Muggle alright. But my Dad's Muggle-born so I listen to some of his music on his little electric radio. Loving the Maiden t-shirt by the way,' Tonks gestured at his own shirt.

'Thanks, my parents hate me wearing it, but I refused to take it off today.'

'Same, my Mum doesn't get what proper music is like – she listens to all this rubbish stuff on the WWN. I'd better get back to them anyway,' She noticed Don's look of disappointment and added, 'but you can come too! I can introduce them to your parents and they can talk to each other.'

'Yeah sure, let's go!' Don and Tonks led the way from the train to Tonks' parents. Don's parents stopped every few steps to admire the owls and cats of numerous breeds and colours that they passed.

'Hey Mum, Dad,' Tonks interrupted Mr. Pye talking, 'this is Don Tremlett and his parents. They're Muggles and Don's in my year.' She didn't have to say anymore, Ted's focus was on the Tremletts and Dromeda looked to be regretting starting to talk with the Pyes.

'Come on,' Tonks said to Don, 'let's get back on the train; it's ten to eleven.'

When the whistle blew to hurry everyone onto the train, Tonks and Don stuck their heads out of the window to say goodbye to their parents.

'See you soon!' they called as the engine started up.

'Try not to do anything dangerous!' Dromeda called to Tonks.

'I won't Mum, you know me!' she called back. Her mother didn't look reassured.

'I'll let you know _everything_ about it,' Don was saying to his parents, 'I'll figure out how to send stuff with owls and then maybe I could get an owl next year. How cool would that be?' His parents were looking emotional.

'Stay safe!' they ordered as the train began to pull away.

Tonks and Don waved as they moved away from their families.

* * *

><p>Tonks was explaining to Don about the differences between the Muggle world and the Wizarding world when their compartment door slid open and a red haired boy with lots of freckles poked his head through the gap.<p>

'Hey, um, can I sit here?' he asked. He was wearing a yellow shirt that was a bit small on him and some worn jeans turned up at the ends.

Tonks smiled at him, 'sure, come on in!' The boy smiled back nervously and took a seat beside Don. He kept looking at Tonks' hair which she thought was odd considering the shocking carrot colour that he had himself.

'I'm Charlie Weasley,' he said.

'Tonks,' she replied.

'Don Tremlett,' added Don.

'So is Tonks your last name or what?' Charlie asked Tonks.

'Last name, and no, I'm not going to tell you my first name. Just call me Tonks, I hate my first name.' Tonks felt a twinge of guilt at being so brash with him when she'd only just met him, but he didn't look to be offended.

'So are you, um, I'm not sure what the word is…' Don looked to Tonks, 'like me?'

Tonks redirected the question to Charlie, asking if he was Muggle-born. He wasn't. That led to a discussion about Tonks' family being pure-blood maniacs. She instantly regretted bringing them up as it always lead to depressing conversation.

She decided to lighten the mood by showing off her morphing.

'So Charlie, cool hair! Is it all natural?' She already knew the answer – no one would choose to have hair that vivid. Well, except her.

'Uh,' he looked at his fringe with confusion, 'yep, all natural.'

'Wicked!' she scrunched up her face and focused on the shade of Charlie's hair. The tingling of her scalp indicated that her pink hair was pink no longer. She opened her eyes to Charlie and Don's shocked and amazed expressions. It definitely got them away from the depressing pure-blood conversation and she spent the time until the sweet trolley arrived taking requests to change her appearance.

Once Tonks had spent a fair amount of her money on sweets they started playing a game with Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans where they all took one and even if it tasted disgusting they had to keep a straight face. A moody seventh year even came by and told them to be quiet because they were laughing so much.

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><p>Evening had fallen outside the window and the driver announced that they would soon be arriving into Hogwarts so they'd better get changed into their robes. Charlie, Tonks and Don took it in turns to get changed.<p>

Back in the compartment they were all getting excited about arriving at Hogwarts. Charlie was looking pale beneath his freckles and Don looked slightly grey. Tonks could feel her hair changing colour every few minutes but was too nervous to stop it.

'So what house do you think you'll be in?' Tonks asked, as she picked at the hem of her black Hogwarts skirt. She hated skirts; you couldn't run anywhere or climb anything in them. She wondered who's idea it was to make a skirt.

'Gryffindor.' Charlie said confidently. 'All my family have been. Mum, Dad, brother, uncles, grandparents. All of them.'

'I don't know,' muttered Don nervously. 'I read in a book that I got that Gryffindors are meant to be brave, and Ravenclaws' smart and Hufflepuffs' hard-working and Slytherins' ambitious, but I don't think I'm any of those. Before I got my Hogwarts letter I just wanted to be a bassist in a rock band, I had lessons and everything.' _That's cool_, thought Tonks.

'Don't worry,' she said comfortingly, 'I dunno where I'll end up either. Dad was a Hufflepuff and Mum was a Slytherin, so Merlin knows where I'll be! Ooh! We're here!'

The brakes squealed as the train pulled into a dark station lit by flaming torches along the walls.

The overhead speaker hissed and the train driver made an announcement.

'We have arrived at Hogsmeade Station, please leave all your luggage on the train, it will be taken separately up to the school. Thank you, see you next summer.'

Prefects in black Hogwarts robes lined the exits of the train telling the stampede of children to stop pushing, and directed first years over to the left of the platform and the rest of the school somewhere else.

'Firs' years! Firs' years!' called a loud voice. Tonks, Charlie and Don jostled their way over to it and Tonks' jaw dropped.

The owner of the voice was massive. _He can't be a giant, _Tonks thought,_ they're huge. Maybe half-giant? _The man was about twice the height of an average man and three times as wide. In one of his huge dustbin-lid sized hands he held a lantern, and in the other, a pink umbrella. His face was covered in a great bushy beard and in the lamp light his black eyes glittered.

'Firs' years over 'here!' he called again.

'Mind yer step,' the giant warned when all the first years were gathered around him and set off into the darkness leaving them to follow the lantern light. They headed down a steep, narrow path, trying not to slip on the slightly damp ground. Tonks cursed herself as she felt herself slipping a number of times and ended up having to grab the back of Charlie's cloak to avoid falling down the steps. He didn't seem to mind that much, probably because she had already confessed that she was really clumsy back on the train, so clumsy in fact, that many of the Healers in St Mungo's treated her as a regular customer.

'Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec,' the giant called behind him, 'jus' round this corner.'

'Ooooooh!'

'Wow,' Tonks whispered in awe.

'It's beautiful,' murmured Don.

'It's Hogwarts.' Charlie grinned. Excitement emanated from all of them as they stared across the great black lake in front of them and up at the huge castle with windows lit by a golden glow atop the cliff on the other side of the lake.

There was a fleet of small boats on the great black lake in front of them, reflecting the golden lights of the castle windows.

'Four to a boat!' the giant called, as he himself settled into one on his own. The first years scrambled forward and Tonks ended up in a boat with Don, Charlie and a brunette girl called Annie. Tonks prayed that she wouldn't fall in as she got in or out of the boat.

'FORWARD!' the giant called after checking that everyone was in a boat. The little fleet began to move together at once, gliding smoothly across the lake. The first years all stared in awe up at the castle which loomed ever closer above them.

'Heads down!' the giant warned as the first boats approached the cliff. The boats carried them through a wall of ivy and down a tunnel which took them under the castle, until they reached a small jetty, where they all climbed out of the boats and back onto land. Tonks didn't fall in.

The giant then led them across a lawn of damp grass, up a small flight of stone steps to a large oak front door. He turned to check that everyone was there, and knocked three times on the castle door.

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><p><em><strong>So there's the first chapter - thoughts?<strong>_

_**In case you weren't aware, this story is written in conjunction with "Dungbombs, Drinking and Dragons" my Charlie Weasley fic, so if you feel up to it go check that one out!**_

_**LittleGuitar94**_


	2. Hogwarts

The doors swung inwards to reveal a tall, emerald robed witch with square glasses and a stern expression.

'The firs' years Professor McGonagall,' said the giant.

'Thank you Hagrid, I shall take them from here,' the witch had a Scottish accent. Tonks sensed that she wasn't someone you wanted to get on the wrong side of, but all the same, Tonks felt the urge to test how far she could push the strict looking witch. She resisted, for the time being.

Hagrid made his way past the Professor and through another set of double doors on the other side of the Entrance Hall. Tonks could hear what she assumed to be the rest of the school behind those doors. They were waiting for the first years. Tonks' scalp burned at the thought and she knew her hair had morphed. Probably to green. That was the colour it usually went when she felt ill.

Professor McGonagall was examining the first years carefully.

'Follow me,' she ordered, turning on her heel and striding across the worn flagged stone floor to an empty chamber off the side of the hall. As ordered the first years nervously filed in after her. The chamber was lit by flaming torches that gave the stone walls an orange glow.

Once all the first years were in, Professor McGonagall began to address them.

'Welcome to Hogwarts. The Start of Term banquet will begin in the Great Hall soon, but first you need to be sorted into your Houses. These are: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. The Sorting Ceremony is very important. While at Hogwarts, your house will be like your family – you will learn in class with the rest of your house, sleep with the rest of your house in the dormitories and spend your free time with the rest of your house in your house common room.' She cast a look over their anxious faces.

'Each house has its own great history and has produced several witches and wizards of note. While at Hogwarts your triumphs will earn you house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of each year, the house with the most points wins the House Cup; this is a great honour for the house. I hope that each of you do your house proud and help to win the cup.

'The Sorting Ceremony will take place shortly in front of the rest of the school. I advise that you all make yourselves as presentable as possible while you wait.' She shot a glare at Tonks' lime green hair. Tonks tried to focus on reverting her hair to a more normal colour, or at least a less vile colour.

'I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly,' with another turn on her heel she swept out of the chamber and left the first years on their own.

'So, um, when she says "The Sorting Ceremony" she, uh, what does she mean?' Don's voice trembled as he sought an answer from either Charlie or Tonks.

'It's just trying on a hat, I think,' Charlie reassured him.

'You think?'

'Uh, my brother sort of joked about having to duel a Sphinx, but I'm pretty sure he was joking,' Charlie smiled weakly at Don who only whimpered in return. Tonks didn't speak as she concentrated on trying to make her hair brown. She'd succeeded in returning it to a fuchsia pink at least.

Someone retched loudly in the corner.

'How you doing Tonks?' Charlie asked.

'Mmm doin' alright,' she managed, her eyes still closed. She imagined that she probably looked to him like she was in pain. 'Just trying to relax and stop my hair morphing.'

He didn't say anything.

Professor McGonagall returned soon after and led them into the Great Hall. Tonks focused on not tripping on the trailing robes around her as she walked behind Charlie. In her nervous state, her clumsiness became all the more apparent.

McGonagall led them past the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables to a three-legged stool with a rag on top in the middle of the Hall in front of the Headmaster's chair. Professor Dumbledore was smiling serenely at the first years, his silver beard and hair shone in the candlelight. A red headed boy on the Gryffindor table put his thumbs up as they walked past. She assumed it was Charlie's brother, Bill, who he'd spoken about.

A moment later, Charlie nudged her and Don and pointed up at the ceiling.

'Woah,' they both murmured in amazement. Tonks had been so preoccupied by not tripping over obstacles on the floor that she hadn't looked up at the ceiling. She wasn't even sure that it was a ceiling or whether the Great Hall just opened up to the sky which was currently clear, dark and full of stars. As soon as she thought of that possibility she thought against it. _It would be cold if it was an open ceiling_.

Finally, they stopped in front of the stool where they saw what Tonks had taken to be a rag was, in fact, a patched and frayed Wizard's hat. The entire Hall fell silent and stared in anticipation at the hat.

'What are we meant to be looking at?' whispered Don, not understanding the significance of the ancient headgear.

Charlie shushed him and a moment later a tear near the brim of the hat opened like a mouth and proceeded to recite in a reedy voice:

'_Another year has come around,_

_Another Year to sort._

_So here I am, duty bound,_

_To root around your thoughts._

_There was a time_

_When Founders Four,_

_Had to draw a line._

"_Who should we let within our walls?"_

_Bold Gryffindor, he asked._

_Only the best, inside these halls,_

_Would Ravenclaw let past._

_The ambitious and the pure of blood,_

_Sly Slytherin would greet._

_The conscientious and the good, _

_Dear Hufflepuff would meet._

_But how to decide_

_They could not agree_

_No matter how they tried._

'_Till Gryffindor, from off his head,_

_Swept no other but me!_

"_This hat shall Sort, in our stead"_

_He shouted out in glee._

_The other three _

_At once agreed_

_And so I came to be!_

_I am the Hogwarts Sorting Hat,_

_Since then and still today._

_Upon this stool you will be sat,_

_Until I do but say._

_The House I choose,_

_To win, or lose,_

_It is the House for you!'_

The Hall erupted in cheers and the hat bowed to each of the four tables before becoming still again.

'What the bloody hell was that?' Don hissed as Professor McGonagall began to unfurl a scroll of parchment.

'When I call your name, you will step forward, put on the hat, sit on the stool and wait to be Sorted,' Professor McGonagall told the first years. 'Almeidus, Rosalind!'

A small, red haired girl stepped forward and placed the hat on her head, which fell right over her eyes.

'GRYFFINDOR!' The hat roared a moment later and the table on the far left cheered loudly. A terrible thought occurred to Tonks.

'Oh no,' she said aloud to Charlie as Amerinus, Martin approached the stool, 'they're going to say my first name in front of _everyone_.'

'C'mon, it can't be _that_ bad,' Charlie reasoned as Martin headed off to the Ravenclaw table.

'You haven't heard it yet.' Tonks hissed as they clapped politely along with everyone else.

'Anders, Violetta' went to Slytherin and the table on the far right applauded. 'Carneirus, Matthew' went to the Hufflepuff table a minute later. 'Cattermole, Reginald', 'Cooper, Buckley', 'Elkins, Elveira' and 'Finnegan, Fergus' all went to Gryffindor, with 'Fenetre, Alice' breaking the streak to go to Ravenclaw.

'Gibbon' and 'Gumboil' went to Slytherin and Ravenclaw respectively, with 'Hicks' heading to Hufflepuff. 'Ishmael, Julia', a blonde haired girl standing behind Tonks went to Gryffindor, followed by twins Robin and Oliver James going to Hufflepuff. 'Kruz, Anna' barged past to get to Slytherin.

There were just over ten left to be Sorted by the time 'Limus', 'Lynch', 'Philpott' and 'Pye' left the line to join their tables, with Tonks, Charlie and Don still waiting.

A broad-shouldered blond boy named 'Rowle, Thorfinn', stepped confidently up to the stool and was proclaimed 'SLYTHERIN!' almost immediately. 'Scabior, William', a dark haired boy also followed Rowle to Slytherin. 'Shunpike, Stanley,' took nearly a whole minute on the stool before being finally pronounced Slytherin too.

Annie Stark, the girl Tonks and the boys had shared a boat with, went to Gryffindor, greeted by yet another round of applause. 'Storm' and 'Tarrick' went to Ravenclaw, then finally –

'Tonks, Nymphadora!' Tonks felt her hair flare red along with her cheeks as a few sniggers broke out among the nearest spectators. She tried to ignore them as she stepped up to the stool. She reached the stool and jammed the hat on her head.

The hat fell down in front of her eyes, and in the darkness of the hat she heard a small reedy voice in her ear.

'Hmmm… interesting… I've not had this much trouble deciding where to put a Black for quite a number of years.' _I am not a Black_, Tonks thought in reply, not sure if the hat could hear her. 'Not a Black indeed, but you've got the confidence and the skill, not to mention the arrogance.' _I'm not arrogant!_ 'Oh, but you are. It's all here, in your head. You've got the bravery of a Gryffindor, to be sure. The talent of a Ravenclaw, but I don't think that's the place for you. Loyalty, yes. Slytherin… now that would be interesting.' _Don't you dare._ 'No, I didn't think so… then it had better be HUFFLEPUFF!'

The hat announced the final word to the Hall and Tonks felt her hair flood pink as she relaxed and headed over to the Hufflepuff table. A number of older Hufflepuffs gave her a pat on the back as she found herself a seat beside Robin James. She saw Charlie looking back at her and gave him a wide smile.

'Tremlett, Donaghan', McGonagall called. Tonks craned her neck as Don stepped from the crowd of five remaining first years and approached the stool. He looked as pale as a ghost as the hat fell past his eyes. A moment then – 'HUFFLEPUFF!' The hat declared. Tonks stood up and applauded, not much taller than a number of seventh years sitting down, and gave Don a welcoming hug from Tonks and a pat on the back from some older Hufflepuffs.

And then it was Charlie's turn. McGonagall placed the hat on his head and it screamed 'GRYFFINDOR!' to the hall. Tonks and Don applauded as he passed them and sat down beside a sandy haired boy.

Once 'Williamson' and 'Zolinski' were both Sorted, McGonagall rolled up her parchment and took the Sorting Hat away.

Tonks was starving. She realised that all she'd eaten since breakfast was sweets.

The hall fell into a respectful silence as Albus Dumbledore, the famed Headmaster of Hogwarts, stood up and smiled happily at his students.

'Welcome to another year,' he said, 'and welcome to a _new_ year at Hogwarts. There are some notices that need to be given, but now is not the time. Now is the time for eating. So, without further ado, dig in!' With a flourish, Dumbledore spread his arms wide and the golden plates across the Hall were suddenly filled with delicious foods. Tonks' mouth watered as she picked some chicken, bacon, sausages and potatoes to put on her plate.

'This is amazing,' she said to Don, who agreed via a mouth full of potato, as they dug in.

Tonks felt more relaxed than ever sat down at the Hufflepuff table. She stuffed herself full of her favourite foods and talked with the other Hufflepuff first years.

A fifth year Prefect who introduced himself as Owen Proudfoot was talking to the blond Matthew Carneirus.

'You've got a small year you know?' he told him, 'definitely not as big as previous years I've seen. And only three Hufflepuff girls! We'll still have a good chance at the House Cup though,' Tonks lost interest in his speech after that and got chatting to Alexa Hicks and Robin James – the two other Hufflepuff girls. They asked about Tonks' pink hair so she entertained them by morphing between mouthfuls of roast beef and new potatoes.

Don was talking to Robin's twin brother Oliver, and Augustus Pye, about what their lessons might be like.

The conversation flowed like the pumpkin juice in their goblets, and the food just kept coming. By the time Albus Dumbledore stood up once more Tonks could barely move she was so full up.

'Now that we are all fed and watered, it is time for those notices I spoke of, then we can all get off to our lovely warm beds.

'Firstly, first years are to know that the dark forest in the grounds is strictly forbidden to all students, and some other students would do well to remember that as well.' Dumbledore scanned the room. Tonks was curious about why the forest was forbidden. 'Mr Filch wishes to remind everyone that magic is not to be used between classes, and points out that it took two months to remove all traces of the salamander guts from the Transfiguration corridor last March.' A man with long, lank, greasy hair and bulging eyes grimaced in the corner of the room, angrily stroking a scrawny yellow eyed cat.

'I would also like to introduce our newest member of staff: Professor Kelly who will be taking over the teaching of Defence Against the Dark Arts after Professor Waring's unfortunate incident with a hinkypunk over the summer.' A tall, thin man with black hair streaked with white, despite his young face, stood up to a round of applause.

'What happened to Professor Waring?' Tonks asked Proudfoot, but he shushed her with a finger on his lips.

'And finally, Quidditch try outs will be held next weekend. Anyone interested in playing for their house team should see Madam Hooch before Friday.' Dumbledore clapped his hands together to signal the end of the announcements.

'Now let us sing the School Song!'

Someone further down the Hufflepuff table whooped loudly.

* * *

><p>After the song, Proudfoot herded the first years out of the Great Hall and through a door to the right of the marble staircase. Tonks spotted Charlie's bright red hair heading up the stairs. The Hufflepuffs descended a flight of stone steps and found themselves in a broad stone corridor, decorated with a number of food related paintings and brightly lit with torches. The entire corridor smelt of delicious foods, and Tonks found her mouth watering despite being full to the brim already.<p>

Proudfoot stopped the crowd of first years in a shady nook on the right hand side of the corridor beside a stack of wood and copper barrels.

'This is the kitchen corridor,' he said, gesturing to the length of the corridor. 'And this,' he gestured to the stack of barrels, 'is the entrance to the Hufflepuff Common Room.'

Tonks looked uncertainly at the barrels, expecting to see some sort of doorknob or secret panel. There was none.

'Our Common Room is the most secret of all four houses – no outsiders have ever seen the inside in the thousand or so years since Hogwarts was founded. We are also the only house with repelling devices, such as; being drenched in oil or vinegar, in case of intruders. Just like the badger of our house crest – we know how to lie low and how to defend ourselves.'

Proudfoot paused to let that statement sink in.

'So, for us Hufflepuffs, the way to get in is quite simple: you just tap this barrel in the rhythm of "Helga Hufflepuff"' He pointed to the barrel two from the top and in the middle of the second row. He tapped the barrel in the rhythm to demonstrate and the lid swung open, revealing a tunnel large enough to crawl through.

'After you,' Proudfoot waved for the first years to head on through to the Common Room. Augustus Pye caused a small problem when he had trouble lifting himself up to the tunnel and had to get a leg up from Oliver James.

Tonks pulled herself up into the tunnel and crawled through. It felt as though they were underground. The tunnel itself smelt of earth.

After a moment, she emerged into a round and low-ceilinged room with circular windows that showed a view of a moonlit field of dandelions. The walls were covered in yellow hangings with burnished copper lanterns, casting a warm and comforting glow over the black and yellow upholstered overstuffed sofas and armchairs. A number of plants hung from the ceiling and rested on the windowsills. Opposite the tunnelled entrance to the Common Room was a large, honey coloured, wooden mantelpiece with badgers carvings, above this a portrait of a woman with red hair and yellow robes smiled and waved down at them. On either side of the mantelpiece were two large round wooden doors.

'Welcome to the Hufflepuff Common Room!' Proudfoot had made it into the Common Room. 'This is probably _the_ most comfortable Common Room in Hogwarts; feel free to test for yourself on the sofas and armchairs during your free time spent up here. Helga Hufflepuff herself set out to ensure that her house Common Room was the cosiest and most homely of all.' Proudfoot pointed at the portrait above the mantelpiece. Helga Hufflepuff beamed down at them.

'Our Head of House is Professor Sprout, who is also the Herbology teacher, and as you can see she likes to liven up our Common Room with some very interesting shrubbery – this plant here for instance,' Proudfoot indicated a large plant with leaves like cones to his left, 'plays quite a relaxing tune if you stroke it's leaves in just the right place.' He did so and a quietly calming melody drifted over the first years' ears.

'Feel free to take an interest in these plants – many do, which is why Hufflepuffs are usually the best at Herbology! Now then, the Hufflepuff Basement extends quite a bit deeper than just the Common Room; we also have the dormitories which can be accessed through these two doors,' Proudfoot pointed to the circular doors beside the mantelpiece. 'Boys on the left, girls on the right. Your first year dormitories are the furthest from this door. You'll find that your belongings have all been brought up for you. If you find that your bed is cold, which would be most unusual, you can warm it up with the bed warmers that are hung up on the walls. Have a good night's sleep!'

The first years hurried off to their dormitories, eager to see more of the lovely and comfortable Hufflepuff Basement. Tonks, Alex and Robin clambered through the door to the girls' dormitories and headed down the underground tunnel, lit by warm copper lamps that cast a honey glow over the circular doors on their right. At the end of the corridor they found yet another circular door, this one had a sign saying "First Years" on it. Tonks pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Three four poster beds lined the walls of the circular dormitory; more copper lamps lit up the inside of the dorm and glinted off the copper bed warmers lining the walls.

'Wow,' Alex sighed, stepping in after Tonks. The beds were covered with soft looking patchwork quilts, and their trunks had been placed at the bottom of each of their beds. A set of school robes lay on top of their trunk, the Hufflepuff crest already sewn on. A yellow and black scarf and tie also lay beside the robes.

Tonks was asleep the moment her pink hair touched the honey coloured pillow.


	3. Day One

The following morning Tonks woke up to a gloriously sunny dormitory. Alex and Robin were also stirring. With a yawn, Tonks pushed off the toasty quilt and forced herself out of bed. The girls changed quickly, Tonks settling on a baby blue colour for her hair and heading up to breakfast at the Hufflepuff table.

Tonks didn't see any sign of Charlie as she munched on some Rice Crispies followed by buttered toast. She, Don and the other First Years popped back to the Common Room after breakfast where they found their timetables perched on the bedside cabinets. Tonks chatted to some of the older Hufflepuffs about what to expect from her lessons before she and Don headed back up to the Great Hall for lunch.

The enchanted ceiling was grey and overcast, unlike the bright sunshine that shone through the windows of the Hufflepuff Basement, but they dug into Sunday Lunch all the same. Tonks didn't think she'd eaten so much in such a short space of time since she'd first broken her leg and received a huge basket of Honeydukes chocolates from her parents as a get well present.

Tonks was just telling Don about what one of the Hufflepuff sixth years had said about Professor Snape's potions classes when Charlie bounded over to them.

'So what's going on with that name Tonks? Nympho- what was it?' His voice wavered as he tried to stop himself laughing. Tonks blushed and knew that the tips of her hair were also flushing red.

'Nymphadora,' she muttered, cursing her mother once again for giving her that _stupid_ name.

'That's the one!' Charlie grinned, 'anyway, I just popped over to see what subjects you, Don and I have together tomorrow.' Don had left his in the dorm, so Tonks fished her timetable out of her pocket.

'I've got Defence, History of Magic, Herbology and Flying,' she said, reading off her subjects. Charlie checked his at the same time

'Cool! That means we've got Herbology together, but not Potions or Transfiguration,' he thought for a moment, 'what about Charms? I've got it fifth on Tuesday.'

'Yes, we've got that! What about astronomy, midnight on Thursday?' Don asked, reading over Tonks' shoulder.

'No, I've got that Tuesday,' Charlie said. 'Hey, when you're done do you want to come on a tour around the castle? My brother Bill's taking me and the boys around.'

They had nothing else to do, so Tonks and Don accepted.

'Who's he?' Robin asked Tonks from down the table.

'Charlie Weasley,' she replied.

From the end of lunch until dinner time, Charlie's older brother Bill and two of his friends, Kirley McCormack and Myron Wagtail showed Charlie, Buck, Reg, Fergus, Don and Tonks around the castle and its grounds.

To begin, they headed out to the greenhouses and saw Professor Sprout, a short, dumpy woman pottering about with yet more strange plants than were in the Hufflepuff Basement. They saw the Giant Squid basking in the shallows of the Black Lake on their way to the Quidditch pitch. Don murmured that he had never heard of Quidditch before and was instantly set upon by Charlie, Buck and Fergus as they explained the rules to him.

Tonks chatted to Myron instead. Myron was a third year Hufflepuff who wanted to be a rock star. He was quite into Muggle punk rock, so that conversation easily lasted all the way over to Hagrid's hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Bill knocked on Hagrid's door but no one answered so they moved on.

'So why's the forest forbidden?' Tonks asked Bill as they passed a gnarled looking willow on their way back up to the castle.

'Well there's all sorts of dangerous things in there,' he said, 'there's the largest herd of centaurs in the UK in there, not to mention a bunch of other stuff you don't want to run into. Rumour has it there's also a large cluster of Acromantula living in there. There are unicorns too, and someone said there's meant to be werewolves in there, but I don't think there is.'

'You'd better not be Mudbloods!' squawked a portrait of a witch in a ruff and a dark dress as they entered the dungeons. She reminded Tonks too much of her mother's pure-blood mad side of the family.

'Get lost!' she told the portrait, which looked taken aback by the blue haired girl.

Despite being underground like the Hufflepuff Basement, the dungeons lacked all of the warmth. Yet another reason Tonks was happy she wasn't in Slytherin, however "interesting" the Sorting Hat thought that might have been. At the end of the corridor Bill pointed out the Potions classroom. Professor Snape, the sallow-skinned, greasy haired, potions master emerged from his office and told them to leave or he'd take points from Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. Tonks decided that she didn't like him much.

'Try not to give Snape and excuse to take points away from you,' Bill advised as they climbed the spiral staircase back up to the entrance hall. 'He hates any house that isn't Slytherin.' It turned out that Snape was also the Head of Slytherin House.

They headed up the Grand Staircase and Bill pointed out the vanishing steps as they went. They saw the Transfiguration and History of Magic classrooms on the first floor, and the Charms classroom on the third. They stopped for a long conversation with the tiny Professor Flitwick who urged them to join the Charms club. They passed the ghost of the Grey Lady on the way to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, also on the third floor.

Then it was suddenly time for dinner and bed, ready for the first day of school at Hogwarts the next morning.

* * *

><p>Tonks and the other Hufflepuff first years were some of the first people to arrive for breakfast in the Great Hall the next morning. Tonks was dressed in a white shirt, and black skirt with her newly sewn Hufflepuff robes over the top. She had spent fifteen minutes attempting to tie the black and yellow tie and ended up sporting a very short tie with a huge knot at the neck.<p>

Tonks sat beside Robin and Alex, eagerly discussing what Defence Against the Dark Arts would be like. Don sat opposite Tonks, between Augustus Pye and Robin's twin Oliver.

As the Hall started filling up so did Tonks, as she ploughed through her plate of sausages, bacon, beans and toast.

She nearly spat a mouthful of her breakfast out when a crowd of owls streamed into the Great Hall, causing Don to jump about a foot in the air.

'They're just delivering the post,' Tonks laughed, once she had recovered. Don stared unbelievably up at the owls, jumping again when one swooped low over the Hufflepuff table and deposited a newspaper onto a plate of bacon.

'Aw, come on!' groaned Matthew Carneirus, retrieving his Daily Prophet from the plate.

Tonks was surprised to find an owl deliver her a letter. She opened the envelope, recognising her mother's handwriting, and read:

_Dear Dora,_

_How was your first night at Hogwarts? Which house did you end up in? The house feels so empty without you, your father and I miss you already. _

_Owl us when you get a chance and tell us all about your first week._

_Lots of love, _

_Mum and Dad_

_xxx_

Tonks folded up the letter and slipped it into the pocket of her robes, thinking of home.

* * *

><p>Double Defence Against the Dark Arts with the Ravenclaws and the new Professor Kelly was Tonks' first lesson. Professor Kelly stood at the front of the long Third Floor classroom, dressed in a three-piece suit with his robes on the banister of the staircase leading up to his office. His black and white hair stood out even more as the morning sunrays fell on it.<p>

Tonks sat beside Don, behind the brown haired Martin Amerinus from Ravenclaw.

'Welcome to Defence Against the Dark Arts,' he began. 'You first years are my very first class, so I thought that I would begin with a fun lesson. So, a brief explanation of what this class is about. Simply put, this class is here to help you combat the effects of Dark Magic, and to do so we will be starting with simple distraction.' He rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and took out his wand.

'There's a lot of practical work in my lessons and the theory will be given to you as homework. Without the theory you cannot attempt to cast the next lesson's spells, so I expect you all to do my homework or I won't let you into the next lesson. Understood?'

Tonks nodded eagerly, keen to get on with casting some cool spells.

'Now, common sense – something that a lot of wizards and witches lack these days. It would be hard to curse someone if you couldn't walk, wouldn't it class?' They nodded. 'You there, front and centre,' Kelly pointed to a bushy haired Ravenclaw next to Amerinus.

'What's your name?' Kelly asked.

'Gumboil, sir. Alastor Gumboil.'

'Well then Gumboil, this is very simple: I just want you to walk towards me with your wand raised. Don't try to cast any spells, just walk. This is only a demonstration, alright?'

Gumboil nodded.

'Okay then, walk towards me.'

Gumboil walked towards the Professor with his wand raised, his eyes wide in anticipation.

'_Locomotor Wibbly!_' Professor Kelly cried, a flash of purple flew from the end of his wand and caught Gumboil on his knees. Gumboil wobbled, trying to take another step, but fell over instead.

The class laughed as Gumboil tried to pick himself off the floor. Kelly walked over to the boy and muttered the counter curse before helping the messy haired boy back to his feet.

'You've heard the spell and seen what it can do, now it's your turn,' Kelly announced to the class. 'I'll write the pronunciation on the board. Find a partner and try to cast this on each other, remembering these steps for casting jinxes: pronunciation, imagination and conviction!'

Tonks grinned and looked at Don. They found a space at the back of the room and took it in turns to jinx each other. Don's first shot missed Tonks and hit the wall behind her, but Tonks caught Don on the knee and his legs weakened slightly.

By the end of the double lesson Tonks was able to cast a decent Jelly Legs Jinx and Don was able to hit Tonks, but not quite send her to the floor. Professor Kelly loudly praised Tonks' jinxing ability the sixth time he performed the counter curse on Don and helped him into a seat.

'You're a natural at this Miss Tonks,' Kelly told her, 'maybe by the end of the year I'll show you all the Bat Bogey Hex,'

The bell rang to signify the end of the double lesson and the entire class groaned because they were having so much fun. Professor Kelly did a final round of counter curses and advised them not to go running for a while and to take care on the Grand Staircase.

Tonks and Don met up with Charlie at break time and told him all about their lesson. He enviously told them about how double Potions with Snape had gone.

'He hates everyone who's not in Slytherin,' Charlie complained, 'he kept telling me to watch Rowle or take advice from Scabior, like I would do that! Then he kept saying I was an idiot!' Still fuming, Charlie headed off to Transfiguration while Tonks and Don continued on to History of Magic.

The best part of the lesson was undoubtedly the start of the lesson. Shunpike, a lanky Slytherin boy, swore loudly when Professor Binns, the only ghost teacher at Hogwarts, drifted into the classroom through the blackboard. Oblivious to his sniggering class, Binns started to read notes, in a reedy voice, on some goblin rebellion that Tonks barely understood. By the end of the lesson Tonks had her head in her hands and her eyes were closed. She had tried to take notes, but decided that it was pointless when she realised that she really didn't care. Don was in a sleepy stupor, staring at the blank parchment on his desk.

After a refreshing lunch, Tonks and the Hufflepuffs joined Charlie and the other Gryffindors on the way down to Greenhouse One for Herbology.

Professor Sprout was Head of Hufflepuff House and had the cheery outlook that was expected of everyone in her house. She was rather short and quite dumpy, with flyaway hair and dirty hands from gardening all day.

'Right class!' she called as they gathered around a large work-table in the middle of the warm and sweet smelling Greenhouse. 'Today we will be learning the correct way to prune aconite, now, can anyone tell me what other names this plant goes by?'

_Wolfsbane and Monkshood_, Tonks thought, not bothering to put her hand up.

Pye and a Gryffindor raised their hands. 'Elkins?' Sprout addressed the Gryffindor girl.

'Wolfsbane and Monkshood,' she answered.

The class continued like a question and answer session with some gardening thrown in, Tonks decided that Herbology was her second favourite lesson so far.

The Hufflepuffs had Flying class with the Ravenclaws fifth lesson, so Tonks and Don found themselves out on the grass in front of the Castle. The air smelled of freshly cut grass and the sun was peeking out from the thin clouds above. The Ravenclaws were already congregated on the lawn around fifteen or so broomsticks.

Tonks had been on a broom once before. It had been her father's and it was a secret they both kept from Tonks' mother – she knew Tonks' track record on the ground and didn't care to put her daughter in even more of a precarious position hovering above the ground. But as it turned out, Tonks was alright with flying and was much safer away from the ground.

The Flying teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived shortly after the Hufflepuffs. She had short grey hair and yellow hawk-like eyes that flitted from student to student as she made her way to the front of the class.

'Stand by a broomstick, come on!' She barked. Tonks got a rather battered looking broom between Don and Robin. The Ravenclaws filed opposite the Hufflepuffs so Tonks found herself facing the brown-haired Arkie Philpott.

'Get a grip Tarrick, the broom won't bite you!' A blonde Ravenclaw nervously stared down at her broom. 'All of you stick your right hand over your broom and say "up!"'

'UP!' They chorused. Tonks' broom needed telling twice before it leaped up into her hand. She nearly dropped it in surprise. Don's broom got halfway to his hand before dropping straight back to the floor, and Robin's simply rolled around on the grass.

Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms properly so they wouldn't slide off the end, and then saw everyone individually to check their grips.

'When I blow my whistle,' she told them all, 'kick off from the ground. Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and return to the ground by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle – three – two – one!'

A high pitched shrill pierced the air and almost all of the class rose a couple of feet into the air. Lucy Tarrick needed some encouragement before she took off. The wind picked up and blew through Tonks' hair, it felt great and she just wanted to fly off around the grounds.

'And touch back down!' Madam Hooch ordered.

Tonks reluctantly leaned forward a fraction and her broom descended back to ground level.

'Oh my god that was amazing!' Don panted when his feet were back on the ground.

'You looked terrified,' Tonks pointed out.

'I was! But I was flying! I didn't even have wings or anything!' Tonks chuckled at his excitement; it was how she had felt when she'd first flown too.

'Okay, spread out! We're going to do some flying in straight lines!'

After Flying, the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws went back into the castle for dinner. They were all chattering excitedly about the lesson, and Don was almost jumping about with eagerness to write it all down and send to his parents.

Back in the Hufflepuff dorm Tonks and Don settled by the window in the Common Room and started on their Defence homework.


	4. Halloween

Before Tonks knew it, the weekend had arrived and she and Don were up early to go to the Owlery. She had promised Don that she'd take him and teach him how to send Owl Post. It wasn't particularly hard, but then again, she'd been used to it all her life.

Before they left she read over her letter once more.

_Hey Mum and Dad!_

_I'm a Hufflepuff! How cool is that? The common room is really cosy and the beds are so comfortable, it's like being at home. I've had a great first week and made some friends already. There's Don, who you met at the platform (he's also in Hufflepuff). Then there's Charlie Weasley, Annie Stark and Buck Cooper who are all in Gryffindor._

_My favourite lesson is Defence Against the Dark Arts, which the teacher says I've got a natural flair for, but Herbology and Transfiguration are interesting too. History of Magic is really boring, but Potions is the worst because of Professor Snape who seems to hate me. But that's okay, everyone seems to hate him too._

_Love you, miss you,_

_Dora_

_xxx_

Tonks caught her reflection in a vase on the way and morphed her hair blonde.

'Looks good,' Don commented as she made the ends of her hair curl, 'yours is now about as long as my hair.' The tips of Don's sandy hair brushed his shoulders.

'So what are you telling your parents about?' Tonks asked as they reached the bottom steps of the Owlery.

'Lessons and stuff, you know, just the little things they'd find interesting,'

The peaked the Owlery steps and to Tonks' surprise found Charlie already there.

'Hey!' she smiled, 'how come you're up so early?'

'Owling my parents, you?'

Tonks explained about teaching Don, but Don was staring up at the Owlery ceiling in amazement.

'I've never seen so many owls before in my life!'

Charlie found himself a relatively clean windowsill and watched Tonks show Don how to call an owl and tie a letter to its leg.

'I'll send mine now,' she told Don as he watched his letter depart through the window.

Once all their letters were sent they headed down for breakfast.

'We're not at house tables today,' Charlie reminded them, 'Bill said no one sits at their house tables at the weekend.'

Sure enough there were Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws and Slytherins all over the place. True, most of the Slytherins stuck to their house table, but no one else seemed to care.

'Why don't you sit on our table?' Tonks asked Charlie. Buck and Annie came by and joined them soon after.

'Our Flying lessons start this week,' Buck said when they all sat down, 'I can't wait! I was so annoyed when the letter said first years can't bring their own brooms!'

'You've got your own broom?' Charlie asked, looking a bit envious. And so began the discussion of brooms.

'Do you guys want to watch the Quidditch team trials? Charlie asked, 'Slytherin have the pitch first today but then it's the Gryffindor team. Tomorrow is Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff,'

'I'm up for that!' Tonks chirped, looking forward to seeing some Quidditch. It was her favourite sport, but she'd never seen it live. No one could think of anything better to do, so after heading back to the Hufflepuff dorm to get some gloves and a scarf (the temperature had dropped rapidly over the last week) they headed out to the Quidditch stands.

They just saw the end of the Slytherin trials which saw second year Antonio Di Pietro as the new Chaser, and third years Tomas Connington and Aiden Kiely as Beater and Seeker respectively.

By the end of the day, the Gryffindor team was back to full strength.

The new Keeper, fourth year Barry Ryan, out flew the rest of his competition and saved all five goals shot at him by seventh year Chaser Katherine Hunter. The other two Chasers were picked from a crowd of about fifteen hopefuls. Second year Arthur Dent didn't look like much but he was surprisingly good at weaving and dodging tackles, he even managed to get close to the goals but Ryan saved his shots with ease. Third year Jonathan Roberts, however, was like an Abraxan horse as he barged through the defence, Quaffle in hand, and sped towards the hoops.

Gryffindor Captain and Beater, Gwenog Jones, thinned the crowd of prospective Beaters by half as soon as she lined them all up. She put the remaining seven through a rigorous set of exercises to test their stamina and skill before setting Bludgers on the four left standing. One broken nose and a minor concussion later, third year Joey Jenkins held his new Beater's club aloft in victory.

Tonks and the gang cheered as each of the new players did a celebratory lap around the stands.

The following day, they headed back down to the grounds clutching extra-curricular timetables in their hands. Professor McGonagall had handed them out to see what they might be interested in doing outside of lessons.

'Kirley and Myron were saying that the Music club is pretty good,' Don was telling them, 'I might go to that and see about learning bass again. Kirley said the guitars and things in the Wizarding World are different to the ones in the Muggle world.'

'I was thinking of doing Ghoul Studies,' Tonks wondered aloud. 'Don't you think it would be cool to learn about vampires and stuff?'

Oakden Hobday was chosen as the Ravenclaw Keeper because he was the only candidate. Third year Chaser, Valmai Morgan out skilled her competition and a scrawny third year called James Alderton surprised seventh year Captain and fellow Beater, Brevis Birch, by accurately hitting every Bludger aimed at him.

After lunch, they watched the Hufflepuff trials. Tonks cheered as the new players did a lap of the pitch.

'They've got a young team,' Buck commented as they watched Spungen, the new third year Keeper, block Quaffle shots from Dorny and Mullet, the two new Chasers, who were both speedy and skilful. The same couldn't be said of the new Beater, Dunstan, who had the power behind his club but not much agility to match.

'Who cares?' Tonks chuckled as they trekked back up to the castle, 'Hufflepuff are going to kick your Gryffindor butts!' Almost immediately, Tonks' toe collided with a rock and she was flat on her face.

'Ow,' she moaned as her toe throbbed. Then she realised that Charlie, Buck, Don and Annie were all doubled over laughing at her fall. She realised that she must have looked really silly, and started laughing along, happy that they didn't care about her clumsiness.

* * *

><p>Tonks and the gang, which now included Charlie, Don, Annie and Buck, soon settled into a routine at Hogwarts. They would head to either the library or the Great Hall at break and lunch to talk and do homework. At weekends they would watch Quidditch practices or find an empty classroom to practice their own spell work.<p>

Every now and then they would do their own thing, like when Don would go with Kirley and Myron to play some music. The three of them had even discussed starting a band together. Charlie liked to go and help Hagrid, or the unpredictable Professor Kettleburn, with any outdoorsy creature related things. Ever since Charlie had spotted Professor Kettleburn rounding up Crups for a fifth year class he had found himself with an ever increasing interest in magical creatures.

Annie spent time in Charms club, learning some handy spells that she mainly used for personalising her things. Buck, however, spent every available moment trying to talk about Quidditch to whoever would listen. By early October even Madam Hooch, the eagle-eyed Flying teacher, was fed up of hearing about the Montrose Magpies' win over the Wimbourne Wasps in the final of the British and Irish League, despite Ludo Bagman knocking out two Magpie chasers with some very accurate beating. Otto Bagman, a sixth year Hufflepuff and Ludo's younger brother, threatened to jinx Buck if he mentioned it once more.

Tonks, however, found her way into the Hogwarts Duelling club and found that she had a natural talent for duelling. Tonks was pleased when Professor Kelly pointed her talent out in class, though Charlie seemed a bit annoyed at it.

Tonks was happy at Hogwarts. At home, she only had her parents to talk to – her mother's family wanted nothing to do with them, and vice versa. Her father's family were Muggles, and there were no other children, only cousins in their twenties. It was good for Tonks to be around kids her own age who didn't care that her hair was unusual colours and that she would trip over her own shadow from time to time.

Before they knew it, Halloween had arrived. Hagrid's vegetable patch was crammed with gigantic pumpkins, the Hogwarts Frog Choir were scheduling last minute rehearsals, and Peeves was spending his time splattering students with what looked like blood but was actually red ink.

At break time the gang congregated in their usual alcove of the library. Tonks was just talking to Annie about a piece of homework that was due when Charlie found the day's Daily Prophet and started reading the headline.

'"Three Years On: How the Wizarding World has progressed since Harry Potter Defeated You-Know-Who".'

'Has it really only been three years? It feels more like ten,' Tonks murmured, lost in thought.

'I remember when we found out,' Buck recalled, 'it was in the morning Prophet and my Mum screamed. Dad, me, and my little brother Connor all ran downstairs to find out what had happened and we found her crying with happiness at the table. We went to Diagon Alley later that day and she bought me my Cleansweep Six in celebration.

'So is that why there were all those owls going around?' asked Don, 'and people in robes all over the place?'

'I remember that!' cried Annie, earning a disapproving glare from Madam Pince, 'there were loads of shooting stars too – no one knew what was going on!'

'Of course, you're both Muggle-born!' Tonks whispered, keeping an eye on Madam Pince, 'you wouldn't have known what was going on,'

'I remember my Dad saying that the shooting stars were probably caused by Daedalus Diggle,' added Charlie, 'and that he'd get a charge from the Ministry if he wasn't careful.' Charlie's face fell. 'Mum was crying because Uncle Fabian and Uncle Gideon had died a month before. They were killed by Death Eaters.' Tonks leaned over and gave Charlie a pat on the back as his voice broke. 'They were my favourite uncles – always a laugh at Christmas Dinner. Then they joined the Order of the Phoenix and were killed a month before the War ended.'

'My parents were in the Order too,' Tonks said sullenly, 'until I was born, then it was too dangerous for them to carry on considering one half of my family was Muggle and the other would have happily killed us all.' Tonks hated talking about _that_ part of her family, but she thought her friends should know.

'How come?' asked Don.

'My Mum's family are all pure-blood maniacs. _Toujours Pur_ is the Black family motto. Always Pure. They disowned my Mum for marrying Dad just because he was Muggle-born. Her two sisters had joined the Death Eaters as soon as they had left school. When I was born, Mum got a death threat from my Aunt Bellatrix telling her that she was bringing further shame to the "Noble house of Black" than she had thought possible and would have to either repent or be killed. Mum burnt the letter on the spot.'

'Wait, your Aunt Bellatrix – Bellatrix Lestrange?' Tonks grimaced. She'd never met her crazy aunt, and never wanted to, now that she was locked up in Azkaban.

'The very same. Because of her I spent the first seven years of my life in a Ministry safe house, only able to go out in the garden. She deserves to rot in Azkaban after what she did to the Longbottoms,' Tonks spat. She thought of all the pain her Mum must have gone through when Tonks' grandmother disowned her.

'Wow,' Charlie breathed, 'and I thought my family had it bad just with Aunt Muriel.' The tension broke like a china plate and they all laughed. Tonks was pleased that someone had brought her out of her black thoughts, but all through the day she would think back to how her life had changed. All thanks to a tiny, one year old baby boy called Harry Potter.

But all thoughts of the past vanished when Tonks stepped into the Great Hall for the Halloween feast.

The evening sky above was clear and dotted with stars, like diamonds on velvet. Tall, tapering candles floated above the five tables, casting an eerie glow over those seated. Hagrid's mammoth pumpkins were spread out around the Hall, each with flickering candles within. And just in case that didn't look freaky enough, Professor Flitwick had charmed them to cackle every so often, just to make sure.

Professor Dumbledore stood up and the Hall fell silent.

'Welcome, everyone to the Halloween Feast! I hope you are all hungry!' A number of seventh years cheered, 'Indeed! Well, humour me for a moment longer, if you please. Just to remind you all that the opening Quidditch match of the season takes place this Saturday between Gryffindor and Slytherin,' Tonks cheered along with most of the hall. Dumbledore paused and waited for the cat-calls and stamping of feet to die down, 'best of luck to both teams!

'Now, before we begin the feast the Frog Choir wish to perform a little number they've been working on. I am told that it is entitled "Thriller" and is by a well-known Muggle artist named Michael Jackson. The song is highly popular among Muggles and I'm sure we will be able to see why. Professor Flitwick, if you please!'

'This is such a good song,' Don whispered to Tonks.

The Hall clapped politely as Professor Flitwick and the rest of the Frog Choir filed in in front of the Staff Table. Tonks thought she may have heard the song before on her Dad's Muggle radio. Myron, the choir's soloist, stood in front of everyone else with a huge warty frog in his hands.

Tonks was impressed with how well Myron could actually sing, and also with how they had charmed the frogs to croak 'thriller' at exactly the right time. Beside her, Don was humming along to the song and tapping his fingers on the table. Robin, sat opposite Tonks, gave a little scream when the performance ended and all the pumpkins cackled simultaneously. The choir got a standing ovation as they went back to their seats. Myron bowed to all the tables before sitting down at the Hufflepuff table not far from Tonks.

'Yes, yes, thank you Mr. Wagtail,' Professor Dumbledore chuckled as Myron sat down. 'That was a fantastic performance once again from the Frog Choir. And now, the part you've all been waiting for – bon appétit!'

The plates in front of Tonks bloomed with food as they had at the Start of Term feast, only this time they were filled with pumpkin pies and black forest gateau among other things. Tonks adventurously decided to try the realistic looking 'finger food' that Don wouldn't go near. It actually tasted a lot like chicken.


	5. Gryffindor Vs Slytherin

It was more than a little bit windy on the day of the first Quidditch match of the season. Tonks was bundled up in her Hufflepuff jumper, scarf and was even carrying her gloves in the pocket of her cloak. In spirit of the imminent game, Tonks had morphed her hair in the Gryffindor colours – it was scarlet at the roots and faded to gold at the tips. It had taken quite a while to get the effect that she was looking for, but she was now quite happy with it.

There was a smattering of cheers when the Gryffindor team emerged into the Great Hall, from the few Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws already down for breakfast. Tonks waved to Annie when she spotted her sitting down at the Gryffindor table.

Don was staring around at the other excited students.

'It's like football fans, but cooler,' he said, watching some Gryffindor students applying face painting charms on each other's faces.

'Football, that's the one where they kick it right?' asked Tonks, remembering her Dad attempting to describe the Muggle game to her many years ago.

'Yeah, but Quidditch sounds way more exciting. There's only one ball in football.'

'Well the Quidditch balls can either shoot away from you or try to attack you,'

'And the Quaffle is what the Chasers throw around?'

'Yep,'

'I think I get it,' chuckled Don, he'd had Buck and Charlie constantly explaining the game in detail over the past couple of weeks.

Tonks was just finishing her toast when the Slytherin table exploded with noise, indicating that the Slytherin Quidditch team had just entered.

'They don't look very nice do they?' commented Augustus Pye.

'I wouldn't want to be the Gryffindors today,' added Ollie James.

Tonks stood up and decided to head over to the Gryffindor table to say hi to Annie and Charlie just as Professor McGonagall started letting off fire-crackers to settle down the rival crowds of Slytherins and Gryffindors.

'Aw, that looked like it would have been good fun,' Tonks said as she stood behind Charlie and Annie. Charlie choked when he saw her.

'What have you done to your hair?' he gasped, taking a gulp of pumpkin juice.

'Why? Don't you like it?' Tonks grabbed his spoon and checked her reflection in the back of it. Her hair looked fine to her. 'What's wrong with it?' she asked.

'Nothing,' Charlie stammered, 'just a bit unexpected.

'Oh, okay,' she smiled and skipped back to the Hufflepuff table where Myron had now joined Don where she was sitting. Both of them were sporting red and gold Gryffindor flags. No one wanted Slytherin to win, except the Slytherins. Myron howled with laughter when he saw Tonks' hair and even high fived her when his fit of hysterics had subsided.

'I'm glad you like it,' Tonks smirked giving Myron a light jab of her elbow.

'Like it? I think it's brilliant!'

* * *

><p>Tonks pressed the binoculars to her eyes as the players came onto the pitch. Up in the stands they had a brilliant view of the entire Quidditch pitch.<p>

'Here come the Slytherins!' Myron was the commentator for the Hogwarts Quidditch matches, closely supervised by Professor McGonagall.

The Slytherins cheered manically while the scarlet and gold decked half of the pitch booed and hissed.

'Spokes! Parkes! Carter! Quigley! Connington! Kiely! And Di Pietrooooo!' Myron called as seven emerald blurs shot out of the gate. 'An interesting line up order there from captain Steven Spokes, clearly choosing his squad to go in age rather than skill.'

Tonks didn't need to look at the huge Slytherin captain to know he was enraged by Myron's comment. But nevertheless, she watched as the captain whispered something in his beater's ear. Before Tonks could point it out to Annie, Myron was off again.

'Here come the GRYFFINDORS!' A huge roar went up from the majority of the crowd, literally; Tonks noticed that some of the seventh years had charmed megaphones to roar when spoken into.

'Hunter! Rawlins! Dent! Jenkins! Roberts! Ryan! And Jones!' The Gryffindor team darted onto the pitch and lapped the stands once in an arrowhead formation. 'Hunter and Rawlins of course are opening the first game of their final Quidditch season here at Hogwarts! A noble gesture from Captain Gwenog Jones!'

The two teams faced each other at the centre circle and the two captains met in the middle. Madam Hooch spoke to them both and they shook hands, both trying to stare each other down. Spokes and Jones remounted their brooms and took to the air.

Madam Hooch blew the whistle and threw the Quaffle into the air, the crowd yelled support and the game began.

'Parkes takes the Quaffle and dodges a tackle from Roberts; he's speeding towards the goal! Will this be the first test for new keeper Barry Ryan? No! Excellent batting from Jones as Parkes narrowly misses a headshot from a bludger!' Myron's narration was so fast that Tonks barely had time to register what he was saying before something new had happened on the pitch. As an avid Falmouth Falcons supporter it wasn't the most exciting Quidditch game Tonks had ever seen live, but it was certainly one of the highest scoring matches she'd seen.

'Hunter's got the ball! Off she shoots towards the Slytherin goal! Past Di Pietro, past Parkes, past Spokes! Is she gonna make it to the goal? Yes, she is! Now it's one on one with the keeper – Carter's proven he's a good keeper, but can he save this? NO HE CAN'T! AND IT'S GRYFFINDOR WHO TAKE THE FIRST TEN POINTS OF THE MATCH!' The crowd was going wild; Tonks couldn't hear anything but noise as everyone exploded with glee. Tonks, Buck and Charlie jumped up and down, waving their flags. Hunter did a celebratory backwards loop before the game restarted.

Ten minutes in it was 30-0 to Gryffindor and there had been no sign of the snitch.

'Nice bludger shot there from Connington and Dent is forced to drop the ball. Di Pietro takes possession, he's had a good game so far has new chaser Antonio Di Pietro – can he keep it up? He's past Hunter and Roberts and into the scoring zone – SAVED! Ryan pulls off a spectacular save there! And it's still 30-0 to Gryffindor with no – wait, was that the snitch?'

A whisper ran through the crowd like fiendfyre as the two Seekers, Kiely and Rawlins, sped off towards the Slytherin end of the pitch. Kiely had the speed but Rawlins, the more experienced of the two, had the skill. Both had their arms out, reaching for the tiny gold ball, Rawlins edged ahead slightly as they rounded a corner and it looked like the match was going to end there –

BAM!

Three quarters of the crowd screamed with rage, Myron was spitting feathers up in the commentary box.

'FILTHY ROTTEN– STINKING CHEATING SCUMBAG!'

'Wagtail!' Professor McGonagall shrieked at him. Tonks was yelling along with him.

'Sorry Professor,' but Myron was still angry and it wasn't hard to see why. Quigley had aimed a bludger at the racing Seekers, and unfortunately for the Gryffindor team and supporters, he had an excellent aim. The bludger had connected with Rawlins' outstretched arm and caused him to spin out of control into one of the Slytherin goal posts. Roberts and Dent caught him before he crashed into the ground. Jenkins was restraining Hunter who looked as if she was going to batter Quigley with her bare hands, while Jones was angrily gesturing at Quigley and her unconscious Seeker as she spoke to Madam Hooch. The Slytherin team formed a protective circle around Quigley. The snitch was lost in the confusion.

Tonks was on her feet, shouting again, as Madam Hooch blew her whistle and waved her left hand.

'WHAT?' Myron screamed down the loudspeaker, 'No penalty for that obvious foul on the Gryffindor Seeker, but only a warning!' The crowd booed and the Slytherins cheered. 'Rawlins refuses to quit and decides to carry on. Gryffindor have possession!' and so the match continued. Gryffindor came back with renewed strength after that incident and doubled their lead within another 10 minutes.

Forty-five minutes into the game it was 80-20 to Gryffindor.

Jones and Jenkins directed every bludger that came their way at the Slytherins with more power and accuracy than Tonks thought possible. Connington received a broken nose and Spokes took a bludger to the chest before Slytherin scored again.

'Now this is more like a Falcons game,' Tonks told Annie and Don as they stared, shocked, at the violence of the school game.

Hunter had just scored a penalty from Parkes colliding with Jones in an obvious case of blatching to make it 100-30 when the game became tense again.

'Come on Gryffindor!' Myron yelled down the microphone, forgetting that he was meant to be unbiased even when Professor McGonagall loudly reminded him. 'Rawlins is just inches away from the snitch! How he's holding on to his broom after that bludger I don't know, but he just needs to hold on a little longer– YES! HE'S DONE IT! RICHARD RAWLINS HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH FOR GRYFFINDOR TO MAKE IT 250-30!'

It was like thunder in the stands; everyone was on their feet jumping and stamping and cheering as Rawlins did an unsteady lap of the stands holding the snitch high in the air, supporting himself with his uninjured arm. The rest of the Gryffindor team descended on him and enveloped him in a bubble of scarlet and gold robes.

Tonks cheered and yelled, waving her flag all over the place. Her ears were ringing when she and the gang left the Quidditch pitch with the rest of the crowd. The roars from the enchanted megaphones were louder than ever and Tonks could barely hear what anyone was saying.

'That was so cool!' Don was yelling, 'way better than any football match!'

'What's football?' Buck asked.

'Never mind!' Don laughed, on a high from the excitement of the match.

* * *

><p>Tonks was almost sad to not be in Gryffindor as Charlie's house table emptied to go to their team's victory party. Tonks and Don, meanwhile, sat in the Common Room and talked excitedly about the game. Don was totally hooked on Quidditch by then.<p>

'I'm off to Duelling Club,' Tonks announced as she finished her homework. The Hufflepuff first years had congregated in a corner of the common-room to help each other out with their work.

'Have fun,' Augustus Pye called as Tonks slung her bag over her shoulder.

Tonks crawled out of the Hufflepuff common-room barrel and set off to the fourth floor via the portrait of Circe in the Entrance Hall side-room.

'Hey Tonks,' Wallace Williamson, Tonks' Ravenclaw duelling partner, greeted her. 'Enjoy the game?'

'Not as much as I'll enjoy kicking your butt tonight,' Tonks grinned.

'Okay you lot, pair up. I thought we could have a little fun tonight after that exciting Quidditch match,' Professor Kelly announced, striding into the room. The few Slytherins in the room scowled. 'So we'll be casting the _steleus_ hex tonight. Can anyone tell me what effect this hex has? Amerinus?'

'It makes the recipient sneeze uncontrollably for a short period of time,' Ravenclaw Martin Amerinus answered.

'Correct, now spread out and begin,' Tonks stepped away from Williamson and pulled out her wand. A heartbeat later, Williamson was on his knees, sneezing repeatedly.

Tonks whooped at her success. Kelly cast _finite incantatem_ to stop the sneezing.

'Good aim Tonks,' he added as Williamson squared back up to Tonks.

Tonks had a good night, until she got hit by a particularly powerful hex, fell to her knees and sneezed so hard she smacked her head on the hard stone floor of the classroom.

Williamson escorted her to the Hospital Wing at Professor Kelly's request.

'You alright to walk Tonks?' he asked, helping her in a straight line down to the first floor.

Tonks chuckled, 'I'm probably safer walking now, with the possibility of concussion, than I usually am. Have you seen how accident prone I am?'

'Yeah, I was definitely impressed by that time you tripped over in Potions and ended up spilling your swelling solution all over Snape.'

'Yet another reason why he hates me.'

They had reached the Hospital Wing.

'Oh Nymphadora, what have you done this time?' Madam Pomfrey asked with a hint of resignation.

'I sneezed.'

'Only you,' the Matron sighed, ushering Tonks into a chair.


	6. Christmas

A few days after the Gryffindor versus Slytherin match, the gang were in the library researching the uses of moonstone for Snape's homework.

'It's my birthday today,' Don announced suddenly.

'What? Why didn't you tell us before?' Tonks hissed as Madam Pince glided past. Tonks wondered how Don had kept it from her all that day.

'It didn't seem very important,' Don shrugged.

'But it's your first birthday in the Wizarding world!'

'It's really no big deal,' Don insisted, Tonks rolled her eyes. 'Going to that Quidditch game was probably the best present I could have had.'

Tonks shut up and thought about what she could get him as a birthday present.

'So when is everyone's birthday?' Charlie asked them.

'February 21st,' Tonks muttered, still deep in thought.

'October 11th,' said Buck. They already knew his from his bragging about his parents buying him yet another new broomstick.

'November 14th,' said Annie. That jolted Tonks out of her thoughts, she took her friends' birthdays very seriously and liked to make a fuss.

'That's three days away!' she cried, suddenly realising her mistake and slapping a hand over her mouth. Too late, Madam Pince swooped down upon them and shooed her out of the library, lest their loud voices disturb her precious books.

They joined up with Reg and Fergus on their way down to the Great Hall. Fergus' hair was now returned to its usual sandy colour after being charmed green at the Gryffindor party. Tonks grabbed Charlie's arms and whispered.

'I've got an idea for Annie's present.'

She didn't tell him what the idea was until the day before Annie's birthday.

'I need to go Owl my Mum,' she told them, sat down in the library once again.

'I'll come too,' offered Annie, just as Tonks expected. Annie really liked owls, that was what had inspired Tonks' idea for her present.

'No, no, that's okay,' Tonks insisted. 'Charlie has a letter to post too, don't you Charlie?' He didn't look like he was getting her gist so she kicked him under the table. He nodded quickly after that.

'We'll see you guys later,' Tonks called as they left the library. She noticed Madam Pince's intense glare as they walked out. 'Chill out, we're leaving,' she muttered with a roll of her eyes. Once they were away from the library, Charlie asked what was going on.

'Annie's birthday present,' she said, he still looked clueless. 'C'mon!' She grinned back at him and set off at a run to the Owlery.

'Seriously Tonks,' Charlie panted as they reached the top of the Owlery steps, 'what's the plan?'

Tonks caught her breath and explained. 'You know the colour change charms we've been doing with Flitwick?' she asked. He nodded but didn't look like he understood. 'Well I got the idea from Fergus and his green hair – we could charm the owls different colours! You know, because Annie loves owls and charms.'

Charlie nodded, finally getting the idea. 'That's a hell of a lot better than the fudge Mum was sending me for her,' he said, looking around at the high storeys of the Owlery. 'So how're we going to do this?'

Tonks' face split into an excited grin with a gleam in her eyes. She was pleased Charlie had agreed, none of the others would have thought big enough to try it, but that was what she liked about Charlie: he'd give anything a go once.

They set to work casting charms all over the Owlery. By the time the end of lunch bell rang, the Owlery looked like a rainbow had vomited everywhere: most of the owls were different colours of blue, red, green, yellow, pink, and purple, and the walls were the same.

Tonks surveyed their work with a pleased nod and shared a grin with Charlie.

After dinner they talked Annie and the rest of the gang into going outside for a walk.

'It's a nice night,' Tonks skipped, leading the way out into the blustery November night. Don and Annie looked at her with concern, knowing that she was lying through her five layers of clothes. Buck grumbled about being cold so Tonks conjured some bluebell flames for him to hold.

Tonks saw Charlie checking his watch. He nodded to her. _Almost time_. Tonks started a bit of small talk to pass the next few minutes before –

'Look!' she pointed to the Owlery. The golden light from the windows basked the grounds around the tower in a warm glow. The gang didn't know what they were meant to be looking at until the first owl emerged for its nightly hunt. A moment later an entire parliament of multicoloured feathered owls were streaming from the tower.

Tonks grinned as she watched Annie's expression turn from shock to wonder as the torchlight glinted off the rainbow of feathers, making them sparkle and shimmer as they set out into the night. Even Buck had stopped moaning.

'Happy birthday Annie!' Tonks cheered, giving her a hug.

'You did this? For me?' Annie couldn't believe it.

'Well, me and Charlie,' Tonks shrugged before she was enveloped in another crushing hug. Charlie received similar thanks.

'It's amazing!' There were tears in Annie's eyes as the last of the owls set off into the darkness of the night.

* * *

><p>The following morning everyone was talking about the multihued owls in the Owlery. Among the students it was spoken of with praise and admiration for what they thought was a great prank, but among the staff there was only suspicion as to who could have done it. Filch was especially angry as he loudly told everyone he passed that he was finding coloured feathers all over the place and had to sweep them up.<p>

Tonks was just sitting down for lunch when Charlie came running up to her.

'McGonagall's on to us,' he panted.

Tonks sighed. 'Crap.'

* * *

><p>That weekend saw Ravenclaw quickly beaten by a strong Hufflepuff Quidditch team and it looked like the Quidditch cup race would end up between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, as Tonks kept reminding Charlie. She'd morphed her hair black and white like a Hufflepuff badger, but Charlie kept saying it looked like Professor Kelly's hair.<p>

The Hufflepuff victory party was probably the best party out of all the houses because they had easy access to the kitchens and everything was sound-proofed anyway so they could be as loud as they wanted.

Tonks and Charlie served their detentions with a typically grumpy Filch after being accosted by McGonagall as the perpetrators of the 'rainbow owl prank'. Their punishment involved sweeping the Owlery of all the mouse skeletons and removing the coloured patches of the walls where their spells had missed the owls – without magic. Tonks managed to slip on some owl droppings and sprained her wrist.

As they headed into December they found themselves in detention once more after Tonks and Charlie had catnapped Mrs Norris and tried to turn her pink. When Professor McGonagall caught them, Charlie tried to stammer an excuse and failed, but Tonks stepped in.

'Honestly Professor, we just thought she'd match Filch's curtains better this colour'.

Unfortunately neither Filch nor Professor McGonagall found that as amusing an answer as Charlie did because the next day the pair were scrubbing the floor in the Entrance Hall after a particularly rainy evening.

Tonks owled home to tell her parents that she was staying at Hogwarts for the Christmas holidays. The rest of the gang were also staying.

'You can't miss your first Christmas at Hogwarts, can you?' Buck pointed out.

Hagrid was seen depositing huge fir trees around the castle which soon became covered in fake snow, everlasting icicles and even live fairies. Mistletoe sprouted up all over the place and it soon became common practice to see people staring at the ceiling on their route to class, checking for any unexpected shrubbery.

Tonks avoided an incident with Augustus Pye who seemed to keep running into her underneath bits of mistletoe, but according to Professor Sprout, '_jinxing his mouth closed_' wasn't how she would have handled it.

* * *

><p>Charlie's 12th birthday was soon approaching, and Tonks had an idea for his present. She managed to rope Don into helping her secure a salamander from Care of Magical Creatures class. She kept it in a box under her bed until the evening arrived.<p>

Tonks had tried hinting about her present to Charlie all day, but as usual he was oblivious to her meaning, so after dinner she presented him with his present.

The box was enchanted and contained some harmless flames to keep the salamander warm. Charlie decided to name the creature Salvador. He kept hold of the salamander for an entire week before one of the older Gryffindors reported smoke coming from the first year dorm.

Professor McGonagall took ten points from Tonks and Charlie, despite Professor Kettleburn's insistence that he didn't care 'where the damn lizard had gone, as long as it didn't breed'. The one legged Professor had even promised that Charlie could go and check on Salvador whenever he wanted.

* * *

><p>The end of term arrived and the school emptied considerably until it was predominantly first years, staff, the ghosts and Peeves left in the castle. Charlie's older brother Bill had also stayed for Christmas. The days were spent having snowball fights in the grounds and relaxing in the Great Hall. As there were so few students left in school no one was sitting according to house.<p>

Tonks headed up to the Great Hall one day before Christmas with Robin and her Ravenclaw friend Lucy Tarrick. Both of them had been constantly asking her about Charlie for the past few days.

'Do you both fancy him or something?' she'd finally asked after they interrogated her about what his favourite colour was. It turned out that they both had crushes on Charlie, which Tonks found hilarious. She wondered if Charlie had noticed the two girls giggling and blushing every time he looked at them, but then she thought about how dense Charlie was when it came to subtle hints. She was sure he hadn't the faintest idea.

Surprisingly, Charlie had noticed, and asked the gang about it.

'You've finally noticed, have you?' Annie sighed, sharing a look with Tonks.

'At last! Robin keeps badgering me about you – it's really annoying,' Tonks moaned, wondering whether Charlie would end up asking one of the girls out.

'What?' Charlie looked super confused, 'she asks you about me? Why?'

'Are you being this dull on purpose?' Annie asked, scrutinising him. 'No, I don't think you are. That's amazing.'

Robin and Lucy waved from across the grounds.

'What's amazing?' He was so clueless.

'He really doesn't get it,' Tonks stared at Charlie in amazement.

'Get what?' Charlie looked expectantly at Don and Buck, but neither of them knew what was going on either. _How could guys be so dull? _Tonks wondered.

'They fancy you!' Annie laughed, 'it's obvious.'

'Who? Robin and Lucy?'

'No, Filch and Mrs Norris! Of course Robin and Lucy!' Tonks shook her violet head. Charlie blushed.

'Ah, he's got it now,' Annie noted.

'Yeah, he kind of looks like a burnt carrot now,' Tonks added as Charlie's face flushed crimson.

'Welcome to lobster territory,' Don grinned.

'Oh shut up,' Charlie hissed.

'So which one are you going to ask out?' Buck asked eagerly.

'Neither!' he hissed, 'I barely know either of them!' Tonks didn't doubt him, Charlie barely spoke to any other girls except in class.

Don and Buck thought that the notion of any girls fancying Charlie was brilliant and kept making jokes until Charlie decided to dump a fistful of snow down the back of Buck's robes.

'Ow! Cold!' Buck cried, dancing about on the spot as Tonks, Annie, Charlie and Don collapsed on the snow with laughter. Charlie wasn't laughing for long though, as Buck got revenge by dumping a mound of snow on top of him.

* * *

><p>Tonks woke on Christmas morning with the enchanted windows of the Hufflepuff dormitory covered in snow. It constantly fooled Tonks whenever she awoke to find the view out of the little cottage-like window; she almost forgot that the Hufflepuff dorm was underground.<p>

'Tonks?' Robin's loud whisper hissed across the dorm. 'Are you awake?'

'I am now,' Tonks yawned, pushing the thick patchwork quilt off her body.

'Merry Christmas Tonks!' Alex beamed, throwing a small wrapped box over to Tonks. Tonks almost caught it, not bad for her sleepy brain.

'Thanks Al,' Tonks unwrapped the box and found a delicate charm bracelet. 'It's gorgeous!'

The bracelet was silver, and the charm was a tiny little badger that wrapped itself around the bracelet and occasionally went for a walk around Tonks' wrist. Tonks thought her gift of Honeydukes chocolate Santas was a bit pants compared to that. Though saying that, Robin's colour changing eye make-up was certainly different.

'You do realise we're eleven?' Tonks pointed out. Robin shrugged and put on some candy flavoured lip-gloss.

Tonks slipped on some torn jeans and an old Hufflepuff Quidditch top that was her Christmas present from her Mum and Dad. It was way too big for her but she wore it anyway. She morphed her hair berry-red for the holiday season.

She flipped open the card that had accompanied the t-shirt.

_Dear Dora,_

_Merry Christmas! We hope you're enjoying for first Christmas at Hogwarts (and your first Christmas away from us, as your mother keeps reminding me). I found this top when I was cleaning out my wardrobe (your mother insisted) and thought you'd get more wear out of it than I will these days. If I remember correctly, this was the shirt I wore when I first asked your mother out after a Hufflepuff versus Slytherin game (Slytherin won). I know it's too big for you, I was a rather broad young man, but we both agree that it'll fit better after the Hogwarts Christmas dinners. In fact, we were considering just coming over for the dinner! Only joking, I think that the teachers who are still there from our time at Hogwarts would have some objections to that!_

_I'm getting a bit off topic now so I'd better stop writing soon._

_We both really miss you and can't wait to see you after your first year. We're off to your grandparents' now for Christmas dinner. It'll be strange not being able to laugh at their reactions to your hair._

_Lots of love,_

_Dad and Mum_

_xxx_

_P.S. If we get another letter home about you getting in detention your mother will redecorate your room. I don't think she's joking about that this time._

Tonks folded up the card with a mildly horrified look on her face. Her mother wouldn't dare redecorate Tonks' room, would she? She probably would, Tonks confessed to herself, but that wasn't likely to stop Tonks having fun. She couldn't help that her idea of fun equated to the teachers' idea of rule-breaking.

She went and knocked on Don's dorm door so they could head up to the Great Hall. When they reached the magnificent hall, Tonks' jaw dropped. It looked spectacular in the soft light of day. The icicles that hung from the enchanted candles glittered, and the floor was covered in a white layer of snow. The twelve Christmas trees with frosted branches and needles stood sentry around the hall.

The staff table had been widened to make it large enough to fit all the remaining students, and chairs had been added around it. Tonks resisted the urge to laugh as Charlie, in a woolly jumper from his mother, found himself sitting beside Lucy.

Even more so when Lucy said hi to him and he blushed furiously. Tonks quickly started talking to Annie, who was sat beside her,

After breakfast they put on some warmer clothes and headed out to the lake. Bill, in a jumper that matched Charlie's, showed them how to cast the Glacius charm, so they spent the majority of the day skating on the icy surface of the Black Lake.

Tonks sat by Charlie at lunch and they pulled a cracker together that went off with a cannon blast. When the smoke had cleared a pirate captain's hat was sat on the table.

Tonks had already won an eye patch in her and Annie's cracker, so Charlie offered her the hat.

'I think that's yours,' Charlie laughed. Across the table Stan Shunpike had a feathered hat that made him look like a startled flamingo.

'Then you can have these,' Tonks said, taking the pirate hat and pushing a pack of Exploding Snap cards towards him, 'Merry Christmas!'


	7. March

The next few days of the Christmas holidays flew by and suddenly the rest of the school were back at Hogwarts.

The gang found themselves in an abandoned classroom off the Charms corridor one rainy day. Annie was reading a Charms textbook, and Don was reading a thick Muggle book from his grandparents. Shakespeare, or something. Tonks' Dad would have known who he was.

Tonks knelt on the floor, attempting to build a house of cards with Charlie's Exploding Snape deck. The added challenge was that she'd cast _engorgio _upon the deck so that each card was now the size of a hand. She'd built three floors so far, a personal best, and it looked to be pretty stable.

'Where's Buck?' Annie asked, turning the page of her book.

'Detention,' Charlie answered. 'He kept calling Professor McGonagall "pussy cat" so she gave him a week's detention.'

Tonks quickly backed away from her house of cards as she burst out laughing.

'So what did you want to ask us about Charlie?' Charlie had walked in and dumped his bag on a desk with the bold announcement that 'I need your advice,' and then not said anything.

'Uh,' Charlie mumbled. Tonks suddenly thought she knew what he needed advice with.

'Ooh, is it about Robin? You looked like you were getting on great in Charms, didn't they Annie?'

'Yes, you did! We all saw you walk her to Defence,' Don nodded helpfully in support of Annie's statement, not looking up from his book.

'Yeah, it kind of is… I was wondering what I should do next,' Charlie looked like a fish out of water. Annie jumped in and started reeling off advice for Charlie, none of which he looked too pleased about.

Tonks got back to her card house, or she would have if she hadn't just knocked it over with her elbow. The stack collapsed in a flash and a series of loud explosions.

Professor Flitwick waddled in to find all four of them on the floor, laughing. While he was telling her off for being distracting, Tonks failed miserably at keeping a straight face. She could feel her hair smoking and that her eyebrows had been half burnt off.

'Don, you've been reading that book for like a week now,' Buck noted.

'It's a good book,' he didn't even look up as he turned the page. They were back in the Library and everyone but Don was trying to finish off the mountain of homework that had steadily built up since the start of term.

'What is it?' Don shut the book and passed it over to Buck. Buck looked at it with distaste as he read the title. Buck disliked any book unrelated to Quidditch by definition.

'_Hamlet _by_ William Shakespeare_,' he passed it back, 'who's that?'

Don rolled his eyes, 'Seriously? He's one of the best Muggle playwrights ever.' Buck shrugged. 'My grandparents sent me this as their "we get that you're a wizard" present, just because this one has three witches in it. They're called "The Wyrd Sisters".'

'Cool band name,' Tonks added, she was lying on her stomach, flicking through a massive version of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi. Charlie sat with Robin, who he had sort-of asked out the day before.

'Do you think?' Don considered the name, 'Myron and Kirley were just saying yesterday that our band needs a name that's a bit more interesting than "Wagtail and Friends".'

Tonks pulled a face, 'Yeah, that name sucks.'

'So how is the band going?' Charlie asked.

'Not too bad, I've talked my parents into coming shopping for a magic bass when I'm next home as a joint birthday and Christmas present,' he grinned, 'but for now I've borrowed one from the music class and we're sort of writing our own stuff. We're thinking that we might start doing gigs next year that's mainly covers of Muggle and magical stuff,'

'Sounds cool,' said Buck, still eyeing the Shakespeare uncertainly.

The pressure started building up on the first years soon after, as every professor was now gearing them towards exam preparation. The only bit of relief Tonks found was in Duelling Club and visiting the kitchens from time to time after a sixth year had told her how to get in.

Another thing that Tonks found frustrating was Charlie's new relationship with Robin. Robin was now constantly trying to talk to Tonks about what Charlie was going to do for Valentine's Day. She wouldn't listen when Tonks told her repeatedly that she had no idea.

Tonks didn't really like Valentine's Day anyway. _It's a silly tradition_, she thought to herself. Her parent's treated Valentine's Day like any other, maybe going out for a meal and getting each other a card, but not making a fuss of it.

Tonks headed up to the Great Hall early to get away from Robin fussing over her hair. Tonks morphed her hair blue in protest against the pink hearts that Robin had decorated her bed with.

Charlie found her munching on a plate of toast, surveying the heart shaped confetti on the table with disgust.

'I'd have thought you'd be a fan of Valentine's Day,'

'What made you think that?' she looked at him as if he was crazy.

'Well, you're a girl, right?'

'I hadn't noticed,' she replied dryly, turning back to her toast.

'I just meant, uh, I meant that,' Charlie visibly squirmed. 'Never mind. Is Robin down here yet?'

'No, she and Alex kept fussing over her hair. Please, for Merlin's sake, say something nice about her hair! They wouldn't shut up last night – it was all "Charlie this" and "Charlie that" and "hey Tonks, you hang out with Charlie all the time, do you think he'll like this?" Ergh, even Alex was getting sick of it by eleven last night.'

'So why don't you like Valentine's Day?' Charlie asked.

'It's a stupid day that gives couples an excuse to be really over-the-top about how they feel about each other. I don't see why you need a day to be in love, if you're with someone you should be in love with them all the time, not just on Valentine's Day,' she took a breath and took a bite of fried egg. 'I just can't wait for the weekend – Ravenclaw vs Slytherin – it's going to be a great game!'

Robin bounced over at that point and the Quidditch discussion evaporated. Tonks could feel the awkwardness as Charlie and Robin just stood there smiling at each other. Thankfully, Robin started a conversation.

'Have you got anything planned for later?'

'Uh yeah, I hope you'll like it, I put a lot of thought into it,'

'I'm sure it'll be great,' she smiled and seated herself beside Tonks. 'See you later Charlie!'

Tonks tried to stop herself smirking at how red Charlie had turned.

'He's so sweet,' Robin gushed, spreading marmalade over her toast.

Tonks rolled her eyes.

Later that evening, while Tonks was teaching Don Wizard's chess in the common-room, Robin almost exploded with happiness all over her.

'It was so great! We had Butterbeer and chocolate and he held my hand and walked me back, it was the most romantic evening ever!'

'Did he kiss you?' Alex asked quickly. Tonks knocked over half her chess pieces.

'No,' Robin seemed disappointed. 'But we're still only eleven, there's plenty of time for that!'

'Lucky Charlie,' Don said in an undertone.

Tonks' birthday whizzed past with some money from relatives, a Hobgoblins poster from home and ten points from Hufflepuff for yelling '_furball!_' whenever Professor McGonagall coughed in Transfiguration.

Before they knew it, March had arrived and none of the first years had a life outside of homework or revision except for the odd Quidditch weekend. The Quidditch Cup Race was between Gryffindor and Slytherin at the moment, so hopes were running high for Gryffindor to beat Hufflepuff. If Hufflepuff won they would overtake Gryffindor in the race, but if Gryffindor won and Slytherin lost to Hufflepuff in May then Gryffindor would win the Cup.

'We're going to win,' Tonks informed Charlie as they climbed up to the stands.

Charlie laughed and shook his head. 'You wish.'

'So where's Robin?'

'Sitting with Lucy in the Ravenclaw stands; she's not much of a Quidditch fan.'

'What? You've got to get rid of her mate,' Buck announced. Charlie ignored him.

Myron's commentary was even more outrageous than usual in an obvious display of house favouritism as the teams stepped out onto the pitch. Tonks morphed her hair into the 'badger look' as Charlie called it.

'Ladies and gentlemen! Here come the Gryffindors! Ryan, Hunter, Roberts, Dent, Jones, Jenkins aaaaand Rawlins!' The crowd cheered and banners waved, the Gryffindor lion waving in the sun and wind. The Gryffindor team lapped the pitch at speed and hovered over the centre circle.

'And now, I present for your entertainment and adoration – THE HUFFLEPUFFS!' Tonks screamed in Charlie's ear, and Don jumped up and down with his yellow and black banner.

'Spungen! Dorny! Mullet! Campbell! Campbell! Dunstan! Aaaaand Spinks!' The Hufflepuff team circled the stands before taking their places opposite the Gryffindor team.

'The captains, Phillip "The Sphinx" Spinks and Gwenog Jones, shake hands before the match begins!' Myron told them. Spinks was lanky yet strongly built with dark hair that seemed to be permanently windswept. His broad shoulders and muscled arms contrasted severely with his long and thin legs. His broad build was extremely misleading, as Spinks was actually very clever at team tactics – hence his nickname "Sphinx". He swung his beater's bat over his shoulder as he shook hands with the serious faced Gwenog Jones who looked as though she was trying to crush him in her mind.

As the captains took to the air once more Madam Hooch opened the ball crate.

'This will be a tough one between Gryffindor and the just Hufflepuffs!' Myron announced to the crowd, 'yet only the best team will triumph in this game of Lions and Badgers,'

'Wagtail!' Professor McGonagall's voice interrupted, 'are you commentating on a Quidditch match or narrating a tragedy?!'

'Sorry Professor, AND THEY'RE OFF! Mullet takes the Quaffle for Hufflepuff's first possession! Go on Olivia! She's past Dent and Roberts! Only Hunter and Ryan hover between her and those hoops! Can she make it? OH! SO CLOSE! A sneaky bludger from Jenkins and the Quaffle passes to Roberts, he's off towards the Hufflepuff hoops! Drop it! Go on!'

'WAGTAIL! YOU'RE MEANT TO BE NEUTRAL!'

'TACKLED! By Angus Campbell, well done Angus! Hufflepuff have possession once mo- Roberts has it again! He passes to Hunter and it's only her and Spungen now! SAVE IT SPONGE! HE HAS! IT'S STILL NIL-NIL HERE AT THE TENSEST MATCH OF THE SEASON!'

'Stop being dramatic Wagtail!' McGonagall ordered.

'Still no sign of the snitch as a bludger narrowly avoids Lenox Campbell as he searches the skies!'

The match seemed to go on forever before Katherine Hunter finally scored for Gryffindor, then the match really heated up.

'OUCH! That must have hurt! How Roberts is still on his broom after that bludger I cannot guess. Good shot from Spinks! And Jones has retaliated! Spinks only just makes the parry back to Jones! Now Jenkins has joined in! That bludger's like a hot potato, it's only a matter of time before it makes contact with one of those beaters! Spinks is really up against it now! Where's Dunstan to help? He's got trouble of his own keeping a bludger away from Spungen so he can save this next shot. OH! He missed it! TWENTY-ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR! AND SPINKS HAS DONE IT! TAKE THAT JONES! YOU DON'T MESS WITH THE BADGERS AND GET AWAY WITH I-'

Professor McGonagall wrenched the magical microphone away from Myron as Gwenog Jones crashed to the ground cradling a potentially broken arm.

'HA!' Tonks jeered in Charlie's face.

Hufflepuff redoubled their efforts and it was 50-50 with no sign of the snitch. All Campbell and Rawlins had to do was avoid bludgers until-

'Was that the snitch?' The whisper sped around the stands as the two Seekers raced after the tiny gold ball.

Dunstan aimed a bludger at Rawlins who twisted in mid air to avoid it. Jones, back on the pitch despite Madam Pomfrey's advice, returned the favour by catching Campbell's outstretched arm with a bludger. Campbell span out of control in pain, veering wide into Rawlins. In the confusion the snitch was lost from sight.

'Foul!' Tonks cried, it would have been a foul even in a Falcons game, known for the Falmouth Falcon's extremely violent tactics. 'Surely that's a foul!'

'Perfectly legal,' Charlie told her as the game resumed. Tonks shook her black and white head.

'SEVENTY - FIFTY TO HUFFLEPUFF!'

'EIGHTY - SEVENTY TO GRYFFINDOR!'

And so it continued, well past lunch time. The players were getting tired and the play was more risky. Madam Hooch was awarding penalties left, right and centre.

'ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY - ONE HUNDRED TO HUFFLEPUFF AS MULLET SCORES THE PENALTY FOR BLATCHING!'

'Who wants bets on a weeklong match?' Buck asked.

'Nah, two days at the most,' Charlie told him. Tonks hoped not, she was feeling drowsy already.

Evening fell and the wind picked up. Tonks was falling asleep on Charlie's shoulder and Annie was curled up on the seat beside Don.

'Tonks! The snitch!'

Her eyes snapped open, 'What's the score?' She demanded, back on her unsteady feet.

'One hundred and eighty – one hundred,' Charlie admitted.

'To Hufflepuff? Yes!' Tonks cheered.

Rawlins was gaining on the snitch, just a few feet away, arm outstretched and fingers straining.

'GET BACK UP THERE CAMPBELL!' Myron was yelling. Professor McGonagall, beside him, no longer cared about being neutral. She was on her feet urging Rawlins on.

Feet became inches and the snitch weaved and bobbed around the pitch. Rawlins and Campbell bobbed and weaved after it, Campbell losing air as Rawlins crept ever closer until finally,

'He's done it! Richard Rawlins has caught the snitch for Gryffindor!' Myron sounded just a little bit relieved through his disappointment. 'That means the final score here is two hundred and fifty – one hundred and eighty to Gryffindor! GRYFFINDOR WIN!'

The crowd went wild as everyone, Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws and Slytherins included, celebrated the end of the match.

'Don't forget to pop back in May for the Hufflepuff versus Slytherin match – will those sneaky snakes succeed to stay in the Quidditch Cup Race?' It didn't sound like Myron's heart was in it as he wished them all a good evening and turned off the magical microphone.

'Good game,' Tonks admitted to Charlie before threatening to jinx him if he waved his Gryffindor banner in her face one more time.

After the excitement of the Quidditch, March passed at a crawling pace as Tonks and the other first years found their every moment taken up with revision for their first year exams. Tonks ended up having pockets full of buttons as she practised transfiguring insects into buttons at every available opportunity.

The other first years weren't taking the pressure well either. Charlie even pretended to faint in one Astronomy lessons. As he told Tonks and Don after, according to Professor Lawrence, it is "not amusing to pretend to faint and proceed to blame it on the _altitude _of the Astronomy Tower". Charlie and Robin also broke up, which had barely any effect on Tonks' life except that Robin now stopped asking Tonks whether Charlie had mentioned her each day.

Not even a week later Robin asked Tonks and Alex what they thought of Martin Amerinus. The next day she was being walked to class by him.

'How does she do it?' Alex asked Tonks one lunch-time after Defence Against the Dark Arts.

But on the other hand, their pranks certainly did pick up after that, as Tonks and Charlie found themselves in detention every other week, occasionally accompanied by Don or Buck. Never Annie, she was too good and careful to mess around removing Hogwarts toilet seats from their respective toilets and planting dungbombs in precarious places in the dungeons.

Tonks showed Charlie how to get into the kitchens and from then on their pranks included adding Belch Powder from Zonko's Joke Shop to the Slytherin's food. Even Professor McGonagall had to suppress a smile when she saw Snape's face as he was surrounded by angry and burping students demanding an antidote to their chicken drumsticks.

Buck managed to sneak a vial of Babbling Beverage from the Potions classroom which was even funnier than the Belch Powder because the Slytherins couldn't articulate what their problem was. Somehow Snape found out who was responsible because Tonks, Charlie and Buck found themselves scrubbing the dungeons a week later.

'Why do we always get the scrubbing?' Tonks complained to Charlie, rinsing her sponge for the hundredth time.

April came and went with rainfall so heavy that the Black Lake burst its banks and the Giant Squid had to be precariously levitated back into the depths by the teachers, with a massive crowd of students watching on, when it became beached on the bank.

'Drop it on Snape!' Tonks yelled, getting a cheer from most of the school.


	8. End of Term

The exams were a month away and Tonks was getting unusually nervous. The exams were important because the first years needed to pass them to progress to their second year. The older Hufflepuffs were a great help, offering advice to the younger 'Puffs to stop them getting really stressed out.

May brought intermittent sunshine to the castle grounds as the Hufflepuff versus Slytherin match approached. Tensions ran high because Slytherin needed to beat Hufflepuff to win the Quidditch cup, so it became standard to see groups of students protectively circling the Hufflepuff and Slytherin players as they walked to and from their classes.

Connington, the big Slytherin beater ended up in the Hospital Wing from a bad Confundus charm when a duel erupted in the fourth floor corridor. Tonks had been a patient at the time, after tripping on the Grand Staircase and tumbling down two floors, witnessed him asking for milk and hissing when Madam Pomfrey came near.

When the day of the match finally dawned, the entire atmosphere of the castle felt as though it could be cut with a knife. At breakfast the Ravenclaw table looked anxious, as though a bomb might go off at anytime; they were sat between the Hufflepuff and Slytherin tables.

A minor skirmish broke out on the way down to the pitch: Thorfinn Rowle, a first year Slytherin, had decided to curse Augustus Pye because had waved his Hufflepuff flag at Rowle's group of Slytherins.

The players had been allowed to leave the hall before the rest of the school in case a mass duel broke out.

'AND HERE THEY COME!' Myron announced to the screaming crowd. Then the match began.

* * *

><p>Hufflepuff had beaten Slytherin 160-20 within the first half an hour of play. Campbell, the Hufflepuff Seeker, had shot like a bullet after the snitch, and by the time Kiely had realised what was happening, the game was over. As a result of Hufflepuff's win, Slytherin was out of the Quidditch Cup running ensuring Gryffindor's victory with one game left to play. Tonks ran into Bill and some older Gryffindors while fetching food and Butterbeer from the kitchens to take to the Hufflepuff party. They were doing the same for the Gryffindor party.<p>

The Gryffindor table was notably empty for breakfast, lunch, and dinner on the Sunday.

Then the following week it was the final Quidditch match of the season: Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw. The teams put on a good show, with Gryffindor seventh years Hunter and Rawlins doing an emotional lap of the pitch for their last ever Hogwarts Quidditch game.

Tonks and the gang cheered as Gwenog Jones lifted the large silver Quidditch Cup high in the air, glowing with pride.

* * *

><p>'Merlin's beard, that was solid!' Tonks yawned as the first years emerged from the Great Hall, having just finished their History of Magic exam.<p>

'Tell me about it,' Charlie sighed, stretching his arms out an almost smacking Boris Zolinski, a messy-haired Slytherin, in the face.

'Watch it!' he yelled angrily.

'Sorry,' Charlie mumbled as Zolinski glared at him.

'What did you put for question 21.b?' Annie asked Don anxiously.

'Which one was that?' he replied uncertainly, 'you know, not everyone memorises their exam paper.'

'"Name one unusual method that Muggles developed to ascertain whether a person possessed magical abilities,"' Annie supplied at once.

'Oh, uh, I had no idea on that one, so I said they compared the weight of a duck and the person. Because ducks float in water, like wood?'

Tonks, Charlie, Buck and Annie stared at him.

'What?'

'Where did you get that rubbish from?' Buck asked incredulously.

'Just some Muggle film,' Don shrugged.

_Muggles. _Tonks thought. 'You know, even though my Dad's Muggleborn, Muggles really do amaze me with what they come up with.'

* * *

><p>Tonks couldn't remember a feeling of such relief as when she stepped out into the sun-drenched castle grounds after her last exam. She just wanted to dive in the lake and go for a swim.<p>

'Now we just need to wait a week and a bit to find out if we've passed or whether we've failed out first year at Hogwarts,' said Buck with a sarcastic grin.

Charlie rolled his eyes. 'If anyone's failing this year it'll be you Buck,' he said.

'Why's that Charlie?'

'C'mon mate, you "revised" by reading the latest copy of _Which Broomstick_ hidden in your Transfiguration book.'

Buck blushed a little. 'I didn't think you'd noticed,' he said as they reached the willow tree overlooking the Black Lake.

'Well, if the truth be told, I wasn't actually revising Astronomy notes either. I was reading a book on dragons that Hagrid let me borrow,' Buck laughed.

'Well did you guys see my Charms exam?' Don interrupted, 'my pineapple looked more like a trifle by the time it was done dancing!'

'What did you do to it?'

Don shrugged, 'I just cast _saltantis_ and it started dancing, like it's supposed to, but then it got faster and faster and just turned to mush all over Flitwick!'

They all burst out laughing, imagining the little Charms professor covered in pineapple.

'That's still not as bad as my Transfiguration exam,' Tonks grinned, 'my hedgehog that I was turning into a pincushion turned out to have chimera qualities and started shooting its quills at McGonagall.'

They compared horrific exam stories until the smell of dinner from the Great Hall beckoned them back indoors.

'It's weird to think that our first year at Hogwarts is nearly over,' Tonks murmured as they headed back to the castle.

'Promise me you'll all write,' Annie ordered them.

'Hey, we've not gone anywhere yet!' Charlie laughed.

'I know, but when we're home for the holidays, you must all write,' she insisted.

'And I'll invite you lot over!' Charlie said, 'you can all come over and stay at mine!'

'Or mine!' Buck added.

'I don't think we'd all fit into my house, so I don't think we'll go there,' Don shrugged.

'Mine or Buck's it is then!' Charlie exclaimed as they were swallowed up by the oak doors of Hogwarts castle.

Tonks grinned, thinking about how different her summer would be that year.

* * *

><p>Tonks, Don, Annie, Charlie and Buck to the end-of-year feast with the rest of the school. They were all in good spirits, but Charlie, Buck and Annie were even better – the Great Hall was all decked out in the Gryffindor colours of scarlet and gold – Gryffindor they had won the House Cup. A massive banner behind the High Table depicted the Gryffindor lion, roaring in its victory. Professor McGonagall was beaming as Professor Snape shot daggers at her from the other side of Professor Dumbledore's empty throne.<p>

Once the students were all settled down and Dumbledore had taken his seat, the hall fell silent.

'One more year is over!' Dumbledore smiled, 'and a good year it has been too! I hope that we have over the course of this year, to quote our School Song, taught you things worth knowing… So now you have an entire summer to get them bare and full of air once more!

'One more thing before we get started on this delicious feast – the House Cup needs awarding, and the points stand thus: in fourth place, Slytherin, with three hundred and nineteen points!' The rest of the hall clapped politely. Snape looked like he'd eaten a lemon.

'In third, Ravenclaw, with four hundred and thirty-two points!' The Ravenclaws gave a little cheer, pleased that they had at least distanced themselves from Slytherin by over a hundred points.

'Second, Hufflepuff! With five hundred and fifty-two!' Tonks cheered and clapped with Don, her hair its usual violent shade of pink. Professor Sprout was clapping excitedly from beside Professor McGonagall.

'And finally, in first place, the winners of this year's House Cup – with seven hundred and sixteen points – Gryffindor!' The table on the far left of the Hall exploded with cheers. Tonks spotted Charlie on his feet; Gryffindors up and down the table were yelling and waving their hats in the air.

* * *

><p>Tonks had almost forgotten that their exam results were still to come. She had passed everything of course, even Potions, though she suspected that Snape had tried very hard to fault her every move.<p>

The gang had hoped that some of the Slytherins would have failed, namely Rowle or Gibbon, meaning they couldn't come back next year, but sadly the entire year scraped through.

Then, all of a sudden, their wardrobes were empty and Tonks had somehow crammed all her stuff into her trunk, shortly before tripping over Robin's trunk and almost breaking her arm. Professor McGonagall handed out notes to all students, warning them not to use magic over the holidays. Hagrid took them down to the fleet of little boats and set off across the lake. Then they were on the gleaming Hogwarts Express once more.

'Welcome back to your Hogsmeade to London service, I hope you all had a great year at Hogwarts!' The train conductor announced as Tonks, Charlie, Buck, Don and Annie all piled into a compartment. They talked, laughed, joked and planned as the countryside cleared up into ordered buildings, and signs of the Muggle world appeared. They swapped their Wizarding robes for Muggle jackets, and the train pulled smoothly into Platform 9 ¾ of Kings Cross Station.

Tonks couldn't immediately see her parents as she got off the train, but Charlie spotted his, easily visible with the Weasley red hair. He was pulled into a massive hug from his mother and then introduced his family to his friends.

'Guys, this is my Mum, Dad, little brothers Percy, Fred and George, Ron and little sister Ginny. Everyone, this is Tonks, Buck Cooper, Don Tremlett and Annie Stark.'

'Nice to meet you dears,' Molly Weasley smiled, 'Oh Bill!' She bustled off to snare her oldest son in her trademark hug. Tonks had just spotted her mother in the crowd.

'Mum!' Tonks ran off, tripping on a crack in the pavement just as she reached her parents, and fell into her father's arms. Used to it, Ted caught her before she hit the ground.

'I should have been a Quidditch player,' he joked, giving her a hug. Tonks dragged her parents over to her friends, telling them all about her first year at Hogwarts as she went.

'They said yes!' Charlie yelled, running over to Tonks. He was talking about inviting the gang to stay over during the summer holidays. 'I'll owl you all the dates and you can all come over my house! It'll be great! I can show you the orchard where we can play Quidditch, and the garden with the gnomes, it'll be so cool!' Charlie was practically bubbling all over the place as the Tonks family followed the Weasleys and their friends' families towards the magical barrier of Platform 9 ¾s.

'Wait there a moment miss,' the station guard ordered, blocking Tonks' way forward. Charlie and his father passed through the barrier in front of them. A few moments later the guard let Tonks and her parents through.

'Come on Arthur, we'd best be going,' Mrs Weasley said to her husband. 'It was nice to meet you all.' She waved goodbye and led her children out of the station. Tonks waved goodbye to Charlie.

'Nice to see you again Ted,' Mr Weasley said to Tonks' father.

'You too Arthur, and I'm sure Dora will be able to come over to yours sometime in the holiday.'

Charlie called goodbye to them once again before following his father out of the station, 'see you soon guys!'

Tonks gave Annie and Don a hug, Buck had already left, and left Kings Cross station between her parents.

'So Dora,' her mother asked as they made their way to Ted's car, an old green Rover. 'How did you enjoy your first year at Hogwarts?'

Tonks' tale lasted them all the way back to their semi-detached home.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Well that concludes Tonks' first year. Whaddaya think?<em>**

**_Reviews welcome. _**

**_And bonus points for people who can name what film Don was referencing in the middle of this chapter!_**

**_LittleGuitar94_**


	9. Summertime

_**If you've not read this in a while because I've not updated in ages, I am so sorry! I've not really been updating anything recently. But I have been working on this and editing it because a lot of people were commenting about how short the chapters were. So each chapter is now at least 3 pages on word, but probably 4 or 5. **_

_**So the chapter that was chapter 8 is now condensed back to chapter 3 and all chapters after that are technically new! So bonus, you've technically got 6 new chapters! **_

_**Don't forget to review to tell me your thoughts.**_

_**LittleGuitar94**_

* * *

><p>'Come on Dad,' Tonks called to her father, running down the steps. She tripped at the bottom but saved herself and ending up spinning around the banister before launching herself into the kitchen.<p>

'Coming Dora,' Ted answered, shrugging on a jacket over his shirt. 'Now are you sure you've got everything?'

'Yes Dad,' Tonks huffed, 'I'm only going for a few days.'

Ted Tonks chuckled at his daughter. He was of average height, with fair hair and a slightly larger than average belly. He worked at the Ministry of Magic in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes.

'Say goodbye to your mother,' he reminded his purple haired daughter as he picked up a pot of Floo Powder from beside the fireplace in the living room.

Tonks ran out into the garden and said a quick goodbye to Andromeda Tonks. Andromeda was taller than her husband, and had an aura of nobility that her daughter obviously lacked. She had light brown hair and soft, wide grey eyes, like her daughter's natural features. She worked as a part-time healer at St Mungo's Hospital, though as she often pointed out, she could easily make it full-time considering how much time she spends in there with Dora.

'Have fun!' She called to her daughter as she went back to pruning a shrivelfig.

Tonks, with her bag on her back and back in the living-room, grabbed a fistful of Floo Powder and threw it on the fire. She stepped into the bright green flames, her father after her, and spoke clearly.

'The Burrow.'

The usual sensation of being sucked down a plug hole passed quickly. Tonks pinned her arms to her side and closed her eyes and mouth tight. The roar of the flames was loud in her ears. Finally the sensation stopped and Dora staggered from the fireplace in the Weasley's living room. Ted steadied her.

'Oh Ted, it's you,' Mrs Weasley smiled from over at the sink. 'And Nymphadora, come on in, brush yourselves off.'

'It's just Tonks,' Both Dora and Ted told Charlie's mum. Molly Weasley was short and plump, with a kind face and hair as red as any of her children's. In a flash she'd got hold of a brush and was dusting ash from both Tonks' shoulders.

'Take a seat, Charlie's just showing Buckley around upstairs,' she smiled, ushering Tonks and her father into a seat around the wooden table. 'Bill!' she called.

Bill stuck his head around the front door, a small head seated upon his shoulders.

'Oh hey Tonks, say hi Ron,' the smaller Weasley waved at Tonks. 'Yeah Mum?'

'Could you feed the chickens dear?' Bill nodded and vanished back outside.

'So Ted, how's work?' Mrs Weasley asked, picking up yet another child from the corner of the room. This one was a girl, named Ginny, Molly told them.

'Tonks!' Charlie and Buck cried from the foot of the stairs. Tonks stood up quickly, almost knocking over her chair as she rushed to give them both a hug.

'Hey Charlie, Buck! How's your summer been so far?'

The two boys shrugged, 'alright,' Charlie admitted.

'How about you kids go and wait for the others outside in the garden?' Mrs Weasley smiled, 'Ted and I are just having a little chat about old times.'

Charlie rolled his eyes, 'c'mon guys, I'll show you our garden gnomes,'

Soon after, Annie and Don turned up together in a Muggle car.

'It's just as well my Dad is at work,' Charlie told them, 'or your parents would never be able to leave – he's obsessed with Muggles.'

'Everyone's here Mum,' Charlie called in his mother's direction, 'I'll just show them around!'

'Lunch will be in an hour!' She called back.

'Come on guys,' Charlie beckoned, 'I'll show you the Quidditch paddock!'

The Wealsey's front garden was massive, way bigger than the Tonks' little patch of grass and shrubbery. She wondered how big the back garden was.

* * *

><p>'Charlie!' Mrs Weasley called from the front door. Charlie jogged back to the kitchen. He rejoined them with little Ginny in his arms.<p>

'Have any of you de-gnomed a garden before?' he asked them. Tonks shook her head.

'BILL!' He yelled, Ginny scrunched up her tiny face at the noise.

The fourth floor window opened and Bill's long red haired head poked out of it.

'What?'

'Mum wants the garden de-gnomed!'

'Why can't you do it?'

'I can, but no one else has de-gnomed a garden before! I need you to help me show them!'

'I'll be down in a minute!' Bill called back down before retreating back into his room.

'Right this way ladies and gents,' Charlie smiled, leading them behind the Burrow to their back garden. He put Ginny on an upturned flowerpot in the corner of the garden.

The Weasley's garden was just as huge as Tonks expected, but twice as busy. There were plants everywhere, with weeds creeping up in the spaces between flower beds. The grass needed a good cutting and the walls were lined with gnarled trees. A croaking sound could be heard near the moss covered pond, but no frogs could be seen. Rays of sunlight warmed patches of the garden where it could get through the leaves of the trees.

'Woah! There's about as many plants here as in the Greenhouses!' Tonks exclaimed, looking around at the crowded garden. Her mother would have pruned that garden within an inch of its life.

'I've got garden gnomes in my garden too,' Don said as Charlie stuck his head in a bush.

'Not like this I bet,' the bush Charlie was rummaging in shook violently. 'Your gnomes are the fishing Father Christmases right? Well take a look at a proper gnome,' he straightened up, bringing with him a small, leathery creature with a large, bald, potato shaped head. The gnome flailed with its stubby arms and legs as Charlie held it at arm's length.

Don and Annie looked mildly horrified by the creature, but that was nothing compared to their reaction when Charlie began swinging the gnome around his head.

'What are you doing?' Annie squealed as the gnome cursed at Charlie.

'It doesn't hurt them,' Charlie assured her, 'it just makes them so dizzy they can't get back to their gnome holes.' As he said that, he let go of the gnome's ankles and it flew twenty-five feet into the air before landing in the next field with an audible _thud_.

'That is so cool!' Tonks said, eyes wide, 'show me how?'

Bill popped down soon after and in a few minutes they were all tossing gnomes through the air and into the next field. Stupidly, the gnomes all started coming out of their gnome holes as soon as they realised the de-gnoming was happening.

'They're not the smartest creatures,' Bill said, throwing two gnomes simultaneously through the air.

'I bet you can't hit that stump,' Tonks teased Charlie, and for the next couple of gnomes they both tried hitting a tree stump with their gnomes.

'Look, you can see them starting to get back up,' Buck pointed out, squinting at the field. Sure enough Tonks spotted a line of gnomes forming as they wandered uncertainly away from the Burrow.

'They'll be back soon enough,' Bill assured them, picking up Ginny and spinning her around in the air. 'Dad thinks they're funny so he's a bit soft on them. I'll tell you, if it was up to Mum there'd be no gnomes in a 10 mile radius of our house.'

Charlie nodded in agreement.

* * *

><p>'Dad's on his way home,' Charlie observed, checking the clock in the living room. The clock had nine golden hands and no numbers. Instead, words were written on the outside of the clock face such as: <em>travelling<em>, _work_, _school_, _mortal peril_. The hand with Mr Weasley's face on had just moved from work to travelling, and a few moments later it moved to home and the front door opened as Charlie's father stepped through into his house.

_Cool clock_, Tonks thought to herself.

'Afternoon Weasleys!' he called,

'Afternoon Dad!' Charlie and Bill chorused back. From upstairs there was a scrambling sound as Charlie's twin brothers, Fred and George, raced down the stairs.

'Dad!' They cried as they almost knocked their balding father off his feet.

'Arthur, can you move the table out into the garden?' Mrs Weasley asked her husband, giving him a peck on the cheek. 'Everyone, out into the garden!'

They all sat down around the magically expanded table in the garden – all nine Weasleys and Charlie's four friends.

'So Tonks,' Mr Weasley said as they dug into Mrs Weasley's fantastic spread of food. 'How's your mother been lately? I've not seen Andromeda for many years now.'

Tonks gulped down a mouthful of chicken before answering.

'She's alright, thanks,' she replied, 'she's a Healer at St Mungo's.

'Oh really? You know, I often see your Dad at work but we've not had a good sit down chat in a while.'

Tonks tried to look shocked.

Down the table Bill and Charlie were trying to entice their other brother Percy into playing Quidditch with them. Percy wasn't convinced. Mrs Weasley was asking Annie about her parents, and Fred and George were telling Don and Buck jokes. Ron and Ginny were playing with their food at the end of the table.

When everyone was bursting with food and Ron had successfully launched a spoonful of mushy peas at Percy, they all headed back inside to bed.

'Tonks and Annie, you're up in Bill's room on the fourth floor,' Charlie told them, 'Buck, Don and Bill are in my room on the first floor. I'll show the girls up to Bill's room.'

Charlie led Tonks and Annie up the rickety stairs of the Burrow. The Weasley parents were clearing up downstairs; the clanking of dishes as they were piled into the sink echoed through the house.

'Mum and Dad's room is right across this landing,' Charlie pointed out as they reached the fourth floor. 'If you want you can sneak downstairs and we can all talk in my room for a bit, but wait until my parents have gone to bed.'

'Sure thing,' Tonks nodded, one hand on the doorknob of Bill's bedroom door.

'The top few steps creak so be careful,' Charlie whispered as he heard his parents starting up the stairs, 'see you in a bit!'

'This house is so cool!' Annie grinned as they changed into pyjamas.

'Tell me about it, it's like a small Hogwarts castle here.' Tonks took a look around the weirdly clean room. Having grown up with her organised and clean-freak mother Tonks thought that no bedroom should be that tidy. In fact, she rarely tidied her room just to annoy her mum.

The two girls chatted quietly about their summers so far (Annie had been on a camping trip to West Wales with her family) until they heard silence from the Weasley parents' room.

'Let's go,' Tonks whispered, quietly opening the door. They snuck down the creaky steps without incident and knocked gently on Charlie's door. They settled down on the mattresses laid out on Charlie's floor. The red carpet was mostly hidden under the extra mattresses, and the walls were covered in posters of the Chudley Cannons, a fire-breathing dragon, and the English National Team.

'Cool room,' Tonks said, settling herself down on one end of Bill's mattress.

'And mine isn't?' Bill joked, raising his eyebrows in mock offence.

'Well for a start it's way too clean in there,' Tonks smirked.

'I cleaned it especially!'

'Ssshhh!' Charlie hissed, pointing at the ceiling, 'Mum and Dad are up there, remember!'

Bill rolled his eyes and shut up. Tonks snorted with laughter, she thought Charlie's brother was funny.

They talked for ages about everything: music, school, other people in school, and teachers in school – that conversation lasted a while on its own when they started discussing Professor Snape.

'That greasy haired git needs to lay off us Gryffindors,' Bill said, to general agreement

'And us Hufflepuffs,' Don added.

'Of course, we can't forget the Pufflehuffs,'

'Oi!' Tonks punched him in the arm.

'Cor, Charlie, where'd you find this one?' Bill laughed, rubbing his arm, 'she's got a tough streak.' Tonks smirked proudly.

Eventually they all ended up dropping off to sleep where they sat. When Molly Weasley came in the following morning she smiled to herself, closing the door as quietly as she could, and waited until they all woke up to the smell of cooking bacon and sizzling sausages.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Don't forget to check out Charlie's version of events at Dungbombs, Drinking and Dragons!<strong>_

_**Thanks to **ncisfreak943_ _**for adding this to your Story Alerts!**_

_**And thanks to ** 157_ _**for adding this to your Story Alerts and Favourite Stories!**_

_**LittleGuitar94**_


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